Further proposed modifications to the Hazlemere Neighbourhood Plan consultation

Overview

We want to hear the views of local residents and organisations on further proposed modifications to the Hazlemere Neighbourhood Plan.

In December 2022, the Hazlemere Neighbourhood Plan (“the Plan”) was subject to an independent examination. The Examiner issued Buckinghamshire Council with a report on 22 March 2023 (PDF 0.29MB), at the end of the examination.

The report recommended that the Hazlemere Neighbourhood Plan met the basic conditions – so long as some ‘examiner modifications’ were made to the Plan before it was put to a referendum.

Buckinghamshire Council were required to decide on whether to agree with the Examiner's recommendations. On 4 April 2023, Buckinghamshire Council made a decision to accept the examiner’s recommendations – this meant that the Plan could proceed to a referendum. 

On 25 April 2023, Buckinghamshire Council received correspondence from an interested party advising that it had obtained legal advice that there would be a strong case for legal challenge if the Hazlemere Neighbourhood Plan was to proceed to referendum – on the basis that certain policies in the Plan were not in conformity with the development plan.

Buckinghamshire Council considered the information provided and, on reviewing the Plan, concluded that parts of Policy HAZNP5 do not meet the basic conditions and that further modifications to the Plan, including to supporting text and figures, where necessary, should be proposed and put forward for public consultation.

To ensure that these issues can be considered further, the council has rescinded the decision made on 4 April 2023 and decided on 27 April 2023 to propose further modifications to the Plan and to consult for 6 weeks on those further modifications (PDF 0.24MB).

The consultation is therefore on additional modifications to those put forward by the Examiner – to ensure the basic conditions are met and that the Plan is in general conformity with the strategic policies of the Development Plan.

The proposed modifications and the justification for them can be found in the related document section below. We invite your comments on these proposed modifications.

Related documents

Please see the documents below for more information about the proposed modifications to the Hazlemere Neighbourhood Plan:

• Further proposed modifications to the Hazlemere Neighbourhood Plan (PDF 0.25MB)
• Examiner’s report for the Hazlemere Neighbourhood Plan (PDF 0.29MB)
• Hazlemere Neighbourhood Plan – submission version (PDF 2.64MB)

How to submit a comment

You can submit a comment on the further proposed modifications to the Hazlemere Neighbourhood Plan in one of the following ways:

• complete the online survey using the link below
• complete, and return, a printed version of the survey (PDF 0.20MB)
• email us at neighbourhoodplanning@buckinghamshire.gov.uk
• write to us at Hazlemere Neighbourhood Plan, Planning Policy Team, Buckinghamshire Council, Walton Street Offices, Walton St, Aylesbury HP20 1UA

If you have any questions about this consultation, please email us at neighbourhoodplanning@buckinghamshire.gov.uk or phone us on 01296 383 698.

You will need to provide your name and address when responding as planning law states that we cannot accept anonymous comments.

If you would like to be notified of future progress with the neighbourhood plan, please tell us in your response.

Please make sure we receive your comments before midnight on Tuesday 27 June 2023. We cannot consider any comments received after that deadline.

What happens next

Following the consultation, we will consider the responses and the planning issues, and a new decision will be made on whether the Plan meets the basic conditions and, therefore, if it can progress to a referendum.

Privacy

We will use the information you provide only for the purpose of this consultation. We will store the information securely, in line with data protection laws.

Planning law states that we must make responses available for public inspection, but we will not share or publish any personal details. Please visit the Privacy page to read our full privacy notice.

If you have questions about data and privacy, please email us on dataprotection@buckinghamshire.gov.uk. Or write to our Data Protection Officer at Buckinghamshire Council, The Gateway, Gatehouse Road, Aylesbury, HP19 8FF.