PLANS to demolish a market town building housing a bookshop and a health and beauty business to make way for residential properties and a new pair of retail units have been branded “unsafe”.

A planning application for Amersham town centre, that would see a building containing a Waterstones and a Superdrug torn down so 14 apartments and two new shops can be built in its place, has been almost roundly criticised by locals.

Since mid-December, the proposal has received well above 50 objection letters from concerned residents, and during an Amersham Town Council meeting on January 4, further criticism was heaped on the proposal.

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An architect present at the meeting described the build as “unsafe” and “insecure”, adding they would submit a letter to the council expressing their concerns.

They said the scheme is “trying too hard” and is “overdeveloped”.

Another attendee, Nikki Ozols, claimed the development would be “terribly disruptive” to people working from home in the area.

She said she is also concerned about neighbourhood parking as a result of the works, because local provision is ‘already stretched’.

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Once the existing building is gone, there is provision for two new buildings of varying size – one facing Sycamore Road with 11 dwellings and two shops, and one at the rear containing three more apartments.

Car parking, necessary landscaping and bicycle storage is also mentioned.

However, one resident said the plans are going in the “right direction”, because more people are shopping online.

“I am not saying this development is perfect or that I am going to support it, but the high street is going to change,” they added.

The deadline for public comments is this week.

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