Have your say on the draft Local Plan for Buckinghamshire

As part of the ‘Regulation 18’ phase of Plan preparation, we asked for your views on parts of the emerging Local Plan and supporting evidence base documents. This included:

• Part A: spatial strategies for housing, employment, and provision for travelling communities,
• Part B: development management policies

The consultation ran from 17 September to 29 October 2025.

We received a total of 1,345 representations.

Key issues raised by respondents included:

Natural Environment

• Strong support for protecting the Green Belt, biodiversity and valued landscapes.
• Residents and town/parish councils raised concerns about loss of green space and settlement coalescence.
• Environmental groups sought stronger protections, while developers argued some requirements are too restrictive and affect viability.

Housing Spatial Strategy

• Debate focused on the scale and location of future growth.
• Residents and town/parish councils favoured a brownfield-first approach and were concerned about impacts on rural areas and the Green Belt.
• Developers supported a more flexible and ambitious strategy to meet housing needs and avoid under-delivery.

Transport

• Key concerns related to traffic congestion, road capacity and limited public transport, especially in rural areas.
• Stakeholders expressed differing views on how realistic a shift to sustainable travel modes would be.
• Developers sought greater flexibility, while transport bodies called for robust evidence and mitigation measures.

Infrastructure

• Responses highlighted pressure on water supply, healthcare, schools and other infrastructure.
• Many respondents called for infrastructure-led development to ensure services are delivered alongside growth.
• Developers raised concerns about viability and questioned who should be responsible for infrastructure delivery.

Climate Change

• There was broad support for taking action on climate change.
• Disagreement centred on how stringent policies should be, particularly regarding water efficiency standards.
• Town/parish councils and environmental bodies supported stronger measures, while developers raised viability concerns.

Built Environment

• Strong support was expressed for high-quality design, heritage protection and preserving local character.
• Residents and town/parish councils sought stronger safeguards to protect these assets.
• Developers emphasised the need for flexibility and deliverable policy requirements.

Read the full consultation statement and appendices on out Local Plan evidence pages.

In updating the draft Local Plan for the pre-submission consultation (Regulation 19), the following steps were taken in response to this consultation:

Natural Environment

We reviewed policies to ensure they are evidence-based and proportionate while still delivering effective environmental protection and enhancement.

Housing Spatial Strategy

We continued to prioritise brownfield development, refining the spatial approach through further evidence, and balancing housing delivery with environmental and infrastructure constraints.

Transport

We strengthened the evidence base, aligned transport with the spatial strategy, and ensured policies support sustainable travel while remaining proportionate and realistic.

Infrastructure

We prepared an Infrastructure Delivery Plan requiring development to mitigate impacts where appropriate, while working with providers to align growth with infrastructure provision.

Climate Change

We reviewed policies against updated evidence to ensure they are justified, deliverable and effective in addressing climate resilience and mitigation.

Built Environment

We refined policies to balance robust design standards with practical implementation, ensuring development is both high-quality and achievable.

The amended Local Plan was subject to scrutiny by the Growth, Infrastructure & Housing Select Committee at a meeting on 10 July.

The amended draft Local Plan was approved for Regulation 19 consultation at a meeting of Cabinet on 22 July 2026. The Local Plan for Buckinghamshire Regulation 19 consultation launched on 23 July 2026.