Chiltern building plan "not a done deal"
5:10pm Friday 5th March 2010 in News By Andy Carswell
Chiltern building plan "not a done deal"
PLANNING bosses said today proposals for nearly 3,000 new homes in the Chiltern district were “not a done deal”.
Sites in Amersham, Chesham, Chalfont St Peter and Little Chalfont have already been picked out for building work as part of controversial Government plans for 2,900 new dwellings to be built in the district by 2026.
But Chiltern District Council said they wanted to hear residents' ideas on how best go ahead with the plans, as a full public consultation begins next week.
Questionnaires are being sent to every household in the district and documents will also be available at every library and parish and district council office.
Cllr Nick Rose, the council's cabinet member for planning, said today: “This consultation is a culmination of an incredible amount of work over the last few years to produce a strategy that's entirely evidence-based. We collected a range of evidence and considered what sites are available in the district.
“My concern is to get as much feedback as possible from as wide an area as possible, not just the principle areas concerned.
“I very much hope we do get a good response. That's why we are going to do a full public consultation, to raise awareness not just in the settlements, but in the villages. It's just as important to them as the people in the towns.”
Some sites have already been earmarked for building work, including the Holy Cross convent in Chalfont St Peter – which has sparked anger among some residents.
Cllr Rose said however: “If an application were to come for it, it will be judged according to whatever the appropriate policies are at the time.
“It's not a done deal, not anywhere near it.”
Rumours the council had planned to use compulsory purchase orders to buy land in order to build new dwellings were untrue, he said.
Residents have already said they do not want Green Belt land to be built on, but planners have said existing sites already in the Green Belt may be redeveloped.
The former Bucks New University campus at Newlands Park is one such site which has been earmarked, as has the Chesham campus of Amersham and Wycombe College.
88 per cent of the district is Green Belt land, with two-thirds being a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
No new buildings would be put up on currently undeveloped Green Belt land, Cllr Rose said, adding there had been “significantly less” development in Chalfont St Peter in the past compared to Chesham and Amersham.
Gill Gowing, director for planning and the environment, said the council was keen to avoid losing land designated as employment sites, which would create “dormitory towns” with no workplaces.
