7:30am Friday 12th March 2010
By Rebecca Cain
EMOTIONS were running high at an open day for rural affordable housing in Hughenden Valley with one resident saying if it goes ahead “no piece of green belt land will be secure.”
Hughenden Parish Council is working with English Rural Housing Community and Impact Bucks to propose 10 rural affordable homes in Warrendene Road.
The land is in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the Green Belt and working agriculture land.
Warrendene Road resident Ed Furness said: “No piece of green belt land will be secure if this goes through. It will set a precedent if it goes ahead.
“Large swathes of land were bought up four or five years ago by land speculators. The whole reason for them buying the land was they thought they could get planning approval.
“Hughenden Parish Council said this would never be developed. What they are doing now blows all of that sky high and this land will be developed.”
Parish clerk Lynne Turner said: “On this exception site it does not mean it would open up to normal future development.
“The exception in this case is because it is for the rural affordable housing aspect in the parish. People who want to live there would have to have a strong local connection.”
Mr Furness added he is concerned about the way the parish council came to this decision as the subject was discussed during parish meetings when press and the public were excluded.
Chairman Peggy Ewart said: “It is not possible to give any indication until a decision has been made. We could not publicise it in advance.
“We keep confidential all the sites we are looking at until we come to some kind of tentative decision.”
Draft scheme layouts and basic sketch designs were on display in the council offices on Wednesday with the chance for people to register their housing need.
Jean Fox, rural housing enabler for Buckinghamshire from Buckinghamshire Community Action, said: “We have already established a need. We surveyed the village in 2006 that there was housing need for people who couldn't afford to rent or buy and there was a huge need- about 120 people registered.”
John Howson, who has lived in Warrendene Road for 37 years, said there are not enough local amenities nearby for people from affordable housing to use such as low cost shops and a reliable bus service.
The comments made at Wednesday's open day will now be looked at before the next stage is decided.
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