Part A Spatial Strategy - Draft Local Plan for Buckinghamshire (Reg 18)

5. Local Objectives

Planning for the Natural and Built Environment

The natural environment provides many benefits, which include improving air quality, mitigating the effects of climate change, providing habitats for flora and fauna, and providing places for people to connect with nature.

The Chilterns National Landscape (formerly Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) already has a high level of protection. Whilst Green Belt is not an environmental designation, it still protects areas from development, preventing sprawl and keeping areas open. The Green Belt is being reviewed to identify Grey Belt land which could be taken out of the Green Belt for development. Grey Belt land is land that has previously been developed or does not strongly meet Green Belt purposes (as defined by central government).

Buckinghamshire has three Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) – the Chilterns Beechwoods, Burnham Beeches and in the south-west, adjacent to the Chilterns Beechwoods, Aston Rowant on the boundary with Oxfordshire. Two of these SACs require financial contributions from developers to offset the additional recreational impact of future development and provision of Suitable Alternative Natural Green space (SANG). These areas currently include the eastern-most part of Aylesbury town, the settlements of Chesham, Amersham, Beaconsfield, Chalfont St Peter and Burnham.

Buckinghamshire also has many historic towns and villages with around 180 conservation areas and close to 6,000 listed buildings. Buckinghamshire has a number of Registered Parks and Gardens which are protected. Whilst some areas will experience change, we will also ensure we conserve our precious historic places and buildings.

The need to accommodate growth in Buckinghamshire will inevitably put pressure on our natural and built environment.

Planning for Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change

The Local Plan for Buckinghamshire will help deliver the Bucks Climate Challenge to ensure that Buckinghamshire achieves net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Data shows that 51% of emissions in Buckinghamshire are transport related. We are preparing our Local Transport Plan for Buckinghamshire to set out our priorities for reducing our transport carbon emissions through sustainable travel choices, ultra-low or zero emission vehicles, and digital connectivity to reduce the need to travel. We are also preparing a Green Infrastructure Strategy, which will identify how we strengthen our networks of parks, lakes, rivers and canals.

Evidence has improved our understanding of current and future flooding impacts across Buckinghamshire. Climate change is expected to greatly increase local flood risks in areas such as the south-western and south-eastern edges of South Bucks, the environs of the River Thames in the Wycombe area, areas east of Aylesbury and the Great Ouse around Buckingham. High Wycombe and Chesham are identified nationally as areas of significant surface water flood risk. The areas with properties at highest risk from catchment-wide flooding from a cumulative level of growth are at the far northwest of Buckinghamshire (edges of Milton Keynes) and also at Aylesbury and High Wycombe Strategic Flood Risk. Future development will need to prioritise sites with the lowest flood risk before considering areas which will need to include flood mitigation measures.

Planning for New Housing

There is a national standard Local Housing Need method which local authorities are required to use to assess the number of new houses they should aim to deliver in the future. For Buckinghamshire, the standard methodology currently calculates a housing need of 4,332 new homes a year. For the plan period there is a need for just under 91,000 new homes, which is around 95,000 with a 5% buffer. We already have just over 22,000 homes committed for development from existing local plans, neighbourhood plans and planning permissions^[1]. This leaves an outstanding figure of just under 69,000 new homes needed to meet our future housing needs for Buckinghamshire.

We will ensure the housing we deliver in the future meets the needs of residents by understanding and planning for different types of homes (e.g. flats, houses, bungalows, pitches for gypsies and travellers) and the provision of affordable housing.

To help meet our future housing and employment needs we have conducted four call for sites engagement exercises. This asked for sites to be put forward for consideration as potential allocations within the Local Plan. To date we have received over 1,600 sites to consider. Following the Planning Practice Guidance (Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment - GOV.UK), we are undertaking a Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment, which is the first stage in considering whether a site should be allocated in the Local Plan.

A New and Expanded Settlement Study is also underway to identify areas of search for new settlements and large urban expansions to help support future housing needs

New Towns

As part of the government's initiative to deliver 1.5million new homes in the next 4 years a New Towns initiative has been established. Each New Town will contain at least 10,000 homes and this is a requirement in addition to the 95,000 set out in the standard method (including a 5% buffer) for calculating housing need. A New Towns Taskforce has been established by the government to shortlist recommendations. The short list is expected to be announced later this year.

In addition to the need for new homes, Buckinghamshire must meet the need for new pitches and plots from the Gypsy, Traveller and Travelling Showpeople communities. A revision in the national Planning Policy for Traveller Sites (PPTS) in December 2024 amended the definitions of a Gypsy and Traveller and Travelling Showpeople which altered how we address their needs. During the survey work for the Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessment (GTAA), householders were considered if they met the planning definitions. For the plan period the overall need for Gypsy and Travellers is 681 pitches and for Travelling Showpeople 38 plots.

Planning for Quality of Place

Whilst Buckinghamshire is generally a prosperous county, it contains some of the most deprived wards in the country in both Aylesbury and High Wycombe. This deprivation is associated with a higher number of health issues and poorer life outcomes.

The Local Plan can help contribute to mitigating existing challenges such as improving access to green space, making places easier to get around, and enhancing the built environment so that people are proud of it and feel safer.

Our Regeneration Strategies for Aylesbury, High Wycombe and Chesham are part of the Buckinghamshire response to these issues and will help create welcoming and vibrant public spaces in our main towns. The Local Plan will support high quality development and will build on the unique positive characteristics of our various places, setting out key principles for how future development should happen. It will be supported in doing so by the emerging Buckinghamshire Design Code. Ultimately, we want to be able to create places which are pleasant to live and work in, and as importantly, which function well, to support positive life outcomes for all.

Planning for Community Health and Wellbeing

The built and natural environment is an important determinant of our residents' and visitors' health and wellbeing. A healthy place is described in the Planning Practice Guidance (PPG) as one which:

• Provides opportunities for the community to improve their physical and mental health;
• Supports community engagement and wellbeing;
• Meets the needs of children and young people; and
• Is adaptable to the needs of an increasingly elderly population and those with dementia and other sensory or mobility impairments.

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) highlights the role of the planning system in supporting health and wellbeing in creating healthy, inclusive and safe places that promote social interaction, are accessible, and that enable and support healthy living through creating opportunities for healthy choices that reduce health inequalities.

Health inequalities are avoidable, unfair and systematic differences in health between different groups of people. They arise because of the conditions in which we are born, grow, live, work and age and influence our opportunities for good mental, physical health and wellbeing. Vulnerable groups are at greatest risk of experiencing health inequalities which include, but are not limited to, children and young people, older adults, ethnic minorities, traveller communities, people with physical, sensory or non-visible learning disabilities, people with mental health issues, people living in areas of deprivation or those who can be socially marginalised (for example, people experiencing homelessness, traveller communities and people in contact with the criminal justice system).

The Health and Social Care Act 2012 places a legal duty on local authorities to reduce health inequalities, encouraging planners to consider how housing, transport, and access to services affect vulnerable populations. The Act encourages health-led local planning, requires councils to consider health inequalities in service delivery, supports collaboration between planners and health professionals and makes Directors of Public Health key advisors in planning decisions.

Buckinghamshire's population experiences better health and wellbeing compared to other areas in England; however, this is not shared equally by residents across the county. Significantly poorer health outcomes are experienced by vulnerable groups and people living in income deprivation. Measures to prevent or minimise the occurrence of physical and mental health problems enable people to live happier more fulfilling lives, while also reducing the burden on our health care system. The Local Plan will need to ensure health and wellbeing are a key factor when determining where new development should go.

People's physical health can be supported by providing high-quality streets and public places that encourage walking (well-designed, landscaped, vibrant, and interesting); providing good access to active sports and recreation areas and facilities that encourage physical activity (parks, sports fields and leisure centres); encouraging active modes of transport (cycling and walking); ensuring homes are healthy (access to natural light and ventilation, insulated and heated); and providing access to clean air.

The Local Plan can also support people's mental health by providing good access to community groups (recreational, cultural and religious); high-quality natural areas; education and employment opportunities; and inclusive recreation and leisure activities. The Council is currently preparing an Indoor Leisure Facilities Strategy and Playing Pitch Strategy to guide the future provision and management of sports, leisure and recreation facilities.

While prevention is important, it is also important to ensure adequate health care is available for the treatment of health problems. Some health care buildings in Buckinghamshire are coming towards the end of their life, and some services have capacity and equipment issues. The Local Plan will need to ensure new development is support by adequate healthcare infrastructure and also affordable accommodation for key workers to support the healthcare workforce.

Planning for Infrastructure

Planning infrastructure refers to the physical aspects of the urban environment that support residential and employment needs, such as transport (including roads, footpaths, cycle lanes and bus provision); community (including education, healthcare places of worship, libraries and community halls); recreation (including parks and sports provision); and utilities (water, sewer, gas, electricity, phone, broadband).

The Local Plan will need to plan for adequate levels of infrastructure in-line with new development and in the most appropriate locations. In collaboration with key infrastructure providers the Baseline Infrastructure Study (BIS) was prepared to understand current and anticipated future infrastructure quality and capacity issues. The study found that:

• While the capacity of many infrastructure providers is currently coping, there are some that are stretched beyond capacity, such as healthcare, Special Education Needs and Disabilities, and a Household Recycling Centre in the north of Buckinghamshire.
• Infrastructure providers have different strategies to deal with future capacity issues. Some react to situations that become apparent through frequent monitoring and review, while others take a longer-term strategic approach. For example, planning for early years and childcare tends to be short/medium term (2.5 to 5 years), as factors such as population changes affect the sustainability of providers in the market.

Work on water quality and wastewater (water cycle study) has identified that areas in Buckinghamshire will require upgrades to accommodate increased wastewater pressures from development. There are 73 wastewater treatment works within or serving Buckinghamshire, 41 of which are likely to be close to (including Haddenham), or to have exceeded their flow permit by the end of the Local Plan period (2045) (including Aylesbury, Buckingham, Long Crendon, Princes Risborough, Slough, Steeple Claydon and Winslow). Future development in these locations is likely to require an increase in permit limits and /or upgrades to treatment capacity. This will have implications for delivery lead in time, and may delay some sites later in the plan period. Evidence on water quality suggests most receiving watercourses in Buckinghamshire may be sensitive to an increase in wastewater, which potentially impacts their ability to reach or maintain Good Ecological Status, as required under the European Water Framework Directive. There are a number of poorly performing storm overflows (including Tingewick, Whaddon, Steeple Claydon), and development in these locations will require upgrades.

The findings from the Baseline Infrastructure Study, together with other infrastructure studies, and close collaboration with key infrastructure providers will help inform the future preparation of an Infrastructure Delivery Plan (IDP) for the Local Plan, which will set out what type and level of infrastructure will be required and its location and timeframe, to support future development.

In order to help identify sustainable locations for future development, which provide proximity to services and facilities, employment and transportation options, a Settlement Review was carried out. This gathered information on the services and facilities found within existing settlements of 500 people and above in Buckinghamshire, as well other information including populations, numbers of employment premises and public transport provision. Using this data, each settlement was placed into one of five tiers reflecting how sustainable that location can be considered to be, in order to inform the Plan's spatial strategy and to help identify development needs. Settlements identified in the top three tiers are:

Table 1: Settlement Hierarchy for tiers 1 to 3

Planning for New Jobs

We know that the Buckinghamshire economy has performed strongly over recent years and generated significant economic growth. Over the last 20 years job growth has been between 10.5% and 15.8% (ELRS). Local people and businesses benefit from this, and it is something we want to continue to support. The key growth sectors in Buckinghamshire are high performance technology, medical technologies, space innovation and creative and digital.

The Local Plan needs to help deliver land and premises to support economic growth. The overall net level of growth needed is 45.9ha for the plan period. The evidence shows that there will still be strong demand for new industrial and warehousing space in the future, with most of the new employment space requirement being for these uses. Increased working from home following the pandemic means that the demand for new office space is predicted to be lower than in the past, but it will still be important to provide some land for offices to meet future needs. Sites allocated for employment uses in previous plans and existing vacant units could meet some of this need. However, much of the existing supply is in a few large sites in the north of Buckinghamshire and new allocations of land for employment will be needed to meet the locational needs of business. The Local Plan will need to ensure our existing employment sites are protected, whilst supporting economic growth for new employment sites.

The NPPF requires us to plan to meet the needs of Modern Economy Uses. Data centres are one of these types of uses and Buckinghamshire has strong potential for this type of development. Employment policies will also need to facilitate offices and Research and Development to support businesses based in laboratories and battery technology for electric vehicles. Updating of distribution premises is also needed to meet the NPPF Modern Economy requirements.

Planning for Town Centres

Buckinghamshire has two town centres of regional importance - Aylesbury and High Wycombe (see retail hierarchy). These centres attract visitors from a broad catchment, and we need to ensure they remain vibrant centres that people choose to visit. This means that we need to ensure that there is an appropriate range of shopping and leisure facilities. There is a range of smaller centres in towns and villages throughout Buckinghamshire that serve smaller catchments and allow people to meet their day-to-day needs. The work we've done so far indicates that the Local Plan needs to find 59,000 sqm of floorspace for retail, food / beverage and leisure / cultural uses by 2035. Initially we should focus on bringing vacant units in existing centres back into use. For example, if we could reduce the level of vacancies in our centres to 10% this would accommodate 14,300 sqm of floorspace. In the medium to longer term the majority of the additional floorspace is associated with population growth and so, allocations for these uses as part of large-scale mixed-use allocations are likely to be the best way to accommodate projected capacity.

The Council has an adopted Regeneration Framework with three sub-strategies for Aylesbury, Chesham and High Wycombe. This framework highlights the potential of our towns and villages and in the case of the three sub-strategies sets out visions and highlights key opportunities in our three largest towns. The Local Plan will help deliver on these ambitions.

Planning for Transport, Physical and Digital Connectivity

Buckinghamshire has a number of strategic road corridors passing through it, which play an important economic and connectivity role (parts of the M25, M4 and M40). The rest of the road network relies on important A-Roads that link the main towns in Buckinghamshire and provide connections to neighbouring authority areas.

A baseline modelling assessment of the highway network has predicted that existing development growth in adopted plans will lead to significant increases in traffic volumes in Aylesbury and High Wycombe. During the morning peak hour, the largest increases in delays are forecast in the south of Buckinghamshire (to and from High Wycombe, Beaconsfield, Henley-on-Thames, and Marlow), while the evening peak hour is predicted to see significant journey time increases to and from Aylesbury, Wendover, Watford, and Princes Risborough. With the majority of A-roads in Buckinghamshire functioning at or close to capacity, it will be important that the different growth approaches consider the impact on the highway network and whether development can be mitigated to prevent severe highway impacts.

There are important rail corridors including: the Chiltern Line, the West Coast Main Line and the Great Western Main Line and Crossrail. The level of rail connectivity and services is patchy for example with gaps between Aylesbury and Buckingham, or Leighton Buzzard (in adjacent Hertfordshire), or between High Wycombe and Amersham or Bourne End. Provision is constrained mainly by the need to balance long and short distance journeys, available infrastructure and funding. A new rail line, East West Rail (EWR) is currently under construction in the north of Buckinghamshire with a station at Winslow. High Speed 2 (HS2) is currently under construction passing through Buckinghamshire (although not stopping in Buckinghamshire, the severance it causes is a key issue for the area).

Bus networks are much denser nearer and within bigger urban areas in particular High Wycombe, Aylesbury and Amersham while inter-urban services connecting the various towns and smaller villages across Buckinghamshire tend to be sparsely distributed and infrequent. In more rural areas, bus services in and around villages are often unreliable or non-existent and demand is often too low to meet bus service operation and maintenance costs. The Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) has outlined measures to improve bus provision including the requirement for new development to enhance or create new services to meet additional demand. Measures for a whole network multimodal approach, would need to be considered in the Local Plan.

Buckinghamshire is largely rural, and many people need to use cars to meet their daily needs due to few viable alternatives to driving. The distance covered by people in rural areas is one of the primary causes of high carbon emissions from the road network. The gradual switch to electric cars will help to address the air quality impacts of car use, however this will not address traffic congestion, car parking pressures or the health impacts associated with car-dependent lifestyles.

The Council is developing a new Local Transport Plan for Buckinghamshire (LTP5) which will set out the policies and implementation plans to deliver a transport network that works for all users. The Local Transport Plan will be aligned with planning policies to ensure the provision of effective travel choices in new housing and employment areas. This will mean that planning and transport policies will need to enable greater travel choices in the form of active travel (walking, wheeling and cycling) for shorter journeys and public transport for longer journeys.

A key determinant of travel choices for new development will be where the development is located; development in larger towns with better access to services and facilities can result in less extra traffic than development in Buckinghamshire's villages.

^[1] As at 31 March 2023.