Our plans to build a new bandroom are progressing well and we expect to submit a formal planning application early in the New Year. To help us finalise the plans we would welcome feedback on any aspects. You can provide comments on-line by filling in the form below, or come to one of our public consultation events where you can discuss the plans with us.
What we are proposing to build:
Location – at the corner of Rectory Hill and School Lane, on currently unused land adjacent to the Rectory Meadows Surgery – click to see map
Building design – a single story community building with an assembly hall (approx 100sqm), kitchen, additional small meeting rooms, storage, and toilets together with parking for up to 24 vehicles. – click to see plans
Visual impact – the site is on the edge of the old town conservation area and within the AONB. Much attention has been given to minimize the visual impact including the use of a traditional barn type style of building and placement of the building behind existing vegetation. As much as possible of the current hedging and trees on the School Lane and Rectory Hill boundaries will be retained. A significant portion of the site will remain un-developed.
Access – will be via a driveway from Rectory Hill at the top end of the site. The access will be designed to be fully compliant with Highways safety requirements.
Noise – The building will be insulated to minimize external noise. For near neighbours it is not expected that noise levels will be greater than existing noise from traffic and other sources. Noise measurements carried out at a similar bandroom in Wantage showed that external noise emanating from the building was very low.
Traffic – The majority of traffic will be in weekday evenings and Saturday and is not expected to contribute significantly to current traffic levels on Rectory Hill. Due to the positioning of the access, the bandroom traffic will not impact School Lane or the access to the surgery.
For more information please see our answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Benefit to the local community
The band has a 170 year history and provides a major community benefit, entertaining local people and performing at civic events. The band provides music education for all ages and fills a gap in provision. Once the bandroom is completed it is intended to establish a brass academy for teaching. When not in use by the band, we would like to be able to offer limited use of the building to other selected community groups, particularly music groups which could benefit from the facilities that we include within the building. Currently we are in discussion with other potential users. This will be a useful additional provision as there is a recognised shortfall of indoor community space in Amersham.
Public Consultation
We will hold public consultation sessions where you can see and discuss our plans:
2pm Saturday 3 December at St Michael’s Church, Sycamore Road.
4pm Sunday 11 December at Kings Church, Raans Road. This follows our Christmas Concert at 3pm which is free to attend.
If you can’t attend one of these sessions then send us an email or fill in the form below.
Form for online feedback
Please provide feedback in the form below. Your responses will be held in confidence.
[contact-form-7 id=”9721″ title=”Bandroom feedback form”]