Councillors mull 'very difficult' decisions for new Buckinghamshire Local Plan

Councillors across south Buckinghamshire have warned of the potential impacts of large-scale development as a consultation on a new Local Plan draws to a close.

Buckinghamshire Council’s Local Plan will shape where new homes, infrastructure and employment sites are built across the county over the next 15 years.

It is intended to set out how Buckinghamshire will meet demanding central government housing targets, which could mean major development in areas currently protected from construction.

The public consultation closed on October 29.

A statement from Marlow Town Council, released on Wednesday, said any new development in the region needed to ‘strike a balance’.

It highlighted issues with putting pressure on already stretched healthcare services, highways, and increasing flood risk.

Independent councillor for Flackwell Heath and The Wooburns Stuart Wilson spoke to the Advertiser about the Local Plan before the consultation closed.

He said many ward councillors were ‘in the dark’ about what the plan could eventually mean.

He also raised concerns that the council may have little room to choose between development approaches, given its target of 95,000 new homes.

“You’ve pretty much got to take all of those [potential development sites] to get to the 95,000 – there is no scope not to take any of them,” he said.

Cllr Wilson, a co-founder of campaign group Keep Bourne End Green, said pressure on the greenbelt was still a major issue.

“It worries us greatly having lost Slate Meadow out of greenbelt 35 years ago, and now Holland’s Farm being removed from the greenbelt,” he said.

“We would obviously hate to see any more of the area across Flackwell Heath, Wooburn, Bourne End or Hedsor lose any more greenbelt to development.”

Conservative councillor for Iver Wesley Matthews also expressed worries.

Several large data centres on greenbelt land in Cllr Matthews’ constituency have been approved at appeal in recent years.

“We're certainly concerned about the amount of greenbelt that will have to be taken,” she said.

“But we have no choice because the government has required us to provide so many houses.

“It’s going to be very, very difficult.”

Council cabinet member for planning Peter Strachan told the Advertiser that the council was ‘focused on creating a plan that is best for Buckinghamshire’.

He said: “The government’s housing target for Buckinghamshire is a concern to us all as it requires a 43 per cent uplift in the number of new homes built each year, doubling the levels we see today.

“To have any chance of achieving those targets, we need appropriate sites, the will of developers to build, and the supply of a workforce with the necessary skills, as well as the broader infrastructure required to accommodate such an increase in households and residents.

“The targets are ambitious and while we have been vocal about our concerns, we are focused on delivering a Local Plan that is best for Buckinghamshire within the parameters set by central government.”

In a statement responding to media questions about its 1.5million new homes target late last month, the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Governance doubled down its bid.

“We will leave no stone unturned to build the 1.5million homes this country desperately needs and restore the dream of homeownership,” a spokesperson said.

“On top of the major planning changes we have already introduced to get developers building and our huge £39 billion investment in social and affordable housing, we are going further and faster to accelerate reforms and bring about the biggest era of housebuilding in our country’s history.”

MHCLG had not responded to a request for further comment at the time of publication.