Watermead, Buckinghamshire

Watermead is a housing estate, situated less than half a mile north of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, England. It is also a civil parish within Aylesbury Vale district and forms part of the Aylesbury Urban Area.Housing developmentPlans for the village of Watermead were first drawn up in the 1980s. The idea was to create a self-contained executive village that would bring new sports facilities and a better quality of housing to the town.The village is built on green belt land. At the planning stage the designers were required to pay heed to the ecology of the local area to help protect the environment. Central to the plans therefore was an extensive lake that would become a haven for wildlife and many wild birds.The water table in the Vale of Aylesbury is higher than the average in England, on account of extensive water reserves that are stored below the clay bed of the whole vale. The designers of the village took this into account by creating a lake in the centre to allow for rise in water levels. Construction went underway and the first houses were ready for sale in 1986On the opposite side of the lake from the village was an artificial ski slope. Control over the local water table with flood defences installed and diversions for the River Thame to flood planes on specially dug lakes. The village has grown extensively and has a very active parish council. The ski slope, however, stands disused by the side of the main road leading into the village.