SAVE HARE HATCH SHEEPLANDS

This is the BEST garden centre for miles around, the best service, the best plant, a great café and a fabulous food shop. PLEASE PLEASE do not close it down.

Keep sheeplands open !

I wholeheartedly support the views of both Gill Saxon and Mr & Mrs Lillywhite who separately, wrote in to the Maidenhead Advertiser's Viewpoint page dated the 28th May 2015.

I have written a letter to the Maidenhead Advertiser this week, in support of HHS's planning issues - berating Wokingham Borough Council's intransigent stance - and hoping that common sense will prevail, to find a workable solution for all parties with compromise on all sides. Hopefully my letter will be published in next week's edition - but I will copy Rob Scott at HHS.

My late father, Michael H H Bayley - who lived and worked in Maidenhead for over 60 years as a chartered architect, started work as 'Architect' for the 'Borough Engineer' at 'Maidenhead Borough Council' - he worked on the design and building of the Larchfield housing estate.

My father then went into private practice, specialising in listed buildings conservation, civic and residential works. His designs were featured at 'The Ideal Home Exhibition' in the 1960s.

And he was the co-founding member of the 'Maidenhead Civic Society' - who regularly met to discuss local planning applications in the town centre and surrounding areas - and to give professional advice to 'Maidenhead Borough Council' on planning issues, related to the design and construction of buildings and on landscape architecture too (design of the outside space surrounding buildings).

However - I have a copy of a letter that my father, Michael H H Bayley, wrote to the 'Maidenhead Advertiser' dated the 4th May 2013 - complaining that Maidenhead Borough Council's Planning Department no longer employed professionally qualified, chartered architects: (ARIBA/FRIBA) or chartered surveyors (ARICS/FRICS).

And that most of the Planning Officers who made decisions on planning applications - are merely 'pen-pushers' and admin staff with a 'jobs-worth attitude' who are not professionally or technically qualified in planning law, town planning, construction or architecture.

Even those Planning Officers who are members of the 'Royal Society of Town Planning' - they do not have to take professional exams to qualify, like chartered surveyors or chartered architects. All they need is 2-3 years work experience with a Local Authority to become eligible for membership!

No professional competence is required in building design, construction or planning law!

Thus making a mockery of the whole process - and leading to 'subjective' decision-making rather than 'objective' decisions based on fact and professional experience.

I am sure that HHS has been saddled with inconsistent instructions and requests for information from the Planning Department - which I believe, is a tactic to confuse planning applicants like HHS.

But this just shows that the Planning Officers do not understand how small and medium businesses (SMEs) operate in a competitive market environment. And that they should look at HHS's retail competitors like Wyvale, other local garden centres and the Country Store - who all have diversified their product and services range, like HHS - in response to meeting market demand: providing services that their customers want and need!

Both corporate and commercial businesses regularly negotiate on their differences ... to find a practical, 'win-win' solution that benefits all parties - so why can't Wokingham Borough Council and it's Planning Officers - wake up to the 21st century - compromise where necessary and do business professionally and transparently?

HHS offers value to the local community by the large range of products and services it offers its customers - of all ages and interests. And provides work for its staff and suppliers.

It has become a 'community hub' - with a 'book exchange' area near the cafe - 'a local events notice board' and its monthly 'arts/family entertainment events' that often support local charities.

The staff always smile and are friendly and helpful - 'old fashioned' touches that cost nothing - but add to the overall service and welcome that one gets at HHS..

Come on ... Wokingham Borough Council Planning Officers! Let's have a PUBLIC MEETING to discuss the issues and how to resolve them!

Ms Annabel Bayley
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This is a valuable business for the area,small to some but friendly and needed in that it is an employer of local people. WBC get talking to HHS and come to a positive agreement that will beneficial to both parties concerned...

Great store and facilities for local residents. I would be highly inconvenienced if it closed.

WBC why are you being so unreasonable with this well liked business? Bureaucracy gone mad.

Because HHS is an excellent business which must not be closed.

#653: -  

 thank you for such interesting information.

I would like the centre to remain open

I like to visit this place and there are a lot of jobs here. We need to protect those jobs.

I loved the kids play area and farm with my kids for many yeArs, the garden centre shop sold beautiful items at reasonable prices as well as the farm shops goodies. It's a wonderful family run business with a friendly environment, everyone is welcome. It will be such a loss to the area and what would replace it - another traffic busting housing estate or left as a derelict eye sore. Let the customers judge which centre they wish to attend, a run of the mill franchise wyevale or friendly welcoming reasonably price family business putting their customers first. I know where I'd rather go - sheep lands!

I appreciate Hare Hatch Nursery as an independent business. It is far superior to it's 'chain' rivals, with a committed and knowledgeable workforce who really seem to care about the business. It seems counterproductive to destroy a thriving business.

A local resident and use the facilities a great deal.

Hare Hatch is invaluable to the local - and not so local - community. It's crazy to shut down a local business that does so much.

Hare Hatch Sheeplands is a very valuable retail outlet in the wokingham district. It has so many facets that make it well worth while to visit, extremely good car parking, very helpful staff including a number of disadvantaged young people. Its entrance it by far much more safe than other garden outlets on the A4 road. The site was an eyesore of derelict green houses before being taken over by the present owners who over the years have developed it into a very customer friendly enterprising outlet who Wokingham Council should be proud to be helping instead of continually harassing them.
Signed
A disappointed Wokinghham Council tax payer J.S.Clarke

I signed this petition because it is a family run business, friendly and helpful - not an impersonal chain of nurseries.

This local business needs to be saved!

Local business doing a great job part of the community just let them care on please

I cannot believe that this situation has still not been resolved in favour of Hare Hatch Sheeplands. It has been going on for years and wasted incredible amounts of time and money. We all love HHS and want to see it thrive. Please stop this ridiculous persecution of an excellent business which serves the community well with lovely produce as well as friendly and helpful staff not to mention the amounts it raises for charity. Wokingham Council should be ashamed of itself. Please see sense and get it sorted..

This facility is good for the community, both as a local emlpoyer and as an extremely good and useful retail outlet. It should be left alone from interference from people who do not live locally.Has anyone given a thought of perhaps money has passed hands from a much larger and competive local business for Hare Hatch to close down.

Friendly place to take all the family. Staff making a honest living and always very helpful.

WBC you should be ashamed, take a leaf out of RBC book and do something for your community and not yourselves, how selfish and narrow minded are you? You're happy to rip your residents off but you don't support them in what they want. Take a long, hard look at yourselves!

I cannot believe that the council are possibly making a decision to close this small business. Do they really want the area to go back to the extreme eye~sore that it was prior to this wonderful INDEPENDENT GARDEN CENTRE? If I go to any other garden centres in and around this area ~ they are all the same, large sprawling retail centres. If one centre doesn't hold what I am looking for, you can bet I won't find it at any of the other chain garden centres as they all buy in bulk the exact same orders. Whereas, at Hare Hatch Sheeplands, a family owned PRIVATE garden centre, I have a far better chance of finding what I'm looking for!! The choices are different, offering various prices and different goods ~ CHOICE is what they give us instead of generic stock in multiple garden centres. The Hare Hatch Sheeplands is an extremely good quality and independent family business. It is an attractive development making the area so much better than before. Why does the council want to destroy a business that is established giving good service, good jobs, good example of what can and should be achieved with hard work against large impersonal companies nearby. Competition is good ~ give the individual business a chance to survive and supplying jobs for locals and making what was an eye sore, into a lovely garden centre ~ not harming anyone and indeed improving the area. DO NOT CLOSE HARE HATCH SHEEPLANDS!