Wycombe District councillors formally adopt Local Plan to determine planning decisions up to 2033

A roadmap for sustainable development in Wycombe District up to 2033 has been formally adopted by councillors at Wycombe District Council.

The Local Plan is a key strategic document required by law and becomes effective immediately. It puts a framework in place which will be used to determine planning decisions up to 2033.

The formal adoption of the Local plan was agreed by a vote of councillors at Wycombe District Council following a recommendation to approve the plan from the Council’s Cabinet.

A target for the number of new homes to be built in the District is set by the Local Plan as well as the allocation of sites where the new housing will go. The Local Plan also sets out sites for economic development and identifies the areas in the District which will be protected from development.

Key elements of the local plan include :

• A housing target for Wycombe District of 10,925 homes from 2013 up to 2033.
• The major expansion of Princes Risborough.
• A number of sites allocated for housing or employment development, including some limited release of land from the Green Belt.

Wycombe Cabinet Member for Planning and Sustainability, Cllr David Johncock, said: ‘The Plan gives us a strong framework to secure quality development and infrastructure.

We will work with our communities to achieve this, particularly on the major new sites in the Plan such as Hollands Farm at Bourne End and Amersham Road, Hazlemere. We have already started this work for the Princes Risborough Expansion Area through the recently published draft Planning Guidance.

Now that the Council has adopted the Plan, there is a clear vision and a way forward. The Local Plan means that we can manage developments in a way that we find acceptable.

It will mean that we can manage not only what is built, but also where it can be built. It puts us in charge of our future rather than speculative developers. Yes, there are some local residents still not happy with the outcome but I believe that we found a fair and justifiable compromise solution to our needs for housing and the Inspector largely agreed that view.‘

More than five years of work went into the creation of the Local Plan including detailed technical research and extensive consultation and involvement with local residents across Wycombe District.

Well over 5,000 comments were received by the Planning Team who also conducted numerous face to face community meetings and events involving many hundreds of people right across the District.

The local plan was also subjected to independent scrutiny by a government appointed inspector, Mrs Nicola Gulley, who conducted a series of public hearings in July and September 2018 as part of her public examination into the Local Plan which Wycombe District Council was proposing. Members of the public, developers and key stakeholders presented their evidence to her in person.

Further information about the contents of the Wycombe District Local Plan can be found on the Wycombe District Council website at www.wycombe.gov.uk/newlocalplan.

*Source of article : Press release from Wycombe District Council.