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Where will new homes go now?
THE future of the proposed Salden Chase development on the Milton Keynes/Aylesbury Vale border has been thrown into doubt following recent changes to government policy.
The new coalition government has scrapped regionally set housing targets, including the south east plan, which allocated more than 26,000 homes to be built in Aylesbury Vale by 2026.
Following the announcement by the new secretary of state for communities
and local government, Aylesbury Vale District Council has halted work on its core strategy, which pinpoints sites where the housing could be placed and had allocated 2,000 to 3,000 houses to Buckingham, Winslow, Haddenham and Wendover.
The scrapping of the south east plan means it will be up to the council to decide locally how many homes are needed in the district.
Salden Chase, which had been earmarked for 5,400 homes, formed part of the south east plan and AVDC has indicated the future of the development is now in serious doubt.
Carole Paternoster, councillor for strategic planning at AVDC, said: "This allocation was made solely to meet the requirement of the previous government's south east plan, which has now been abolished. We opposed it strongly at every stage. The scrapping of regional figures strikes to the heart of the necessity for this allocation and I am also mindful of the recent resolution of Milton Keynes Council to oppose this development."
Councillors will discuss future growth in the vale at its next council meeting on September 8.
The council will formally make a decision over whether to formally amend the housing numbers later in the year after a period of consultation.
Paul Hirons, vice-chairman of Buckingham Town Council's planning committee, said the absence of a plan could mean a free-for-all for developers.
He said: "The biggest worry with not having a plan at all is there is no plan specifying areas not suitable for development. It is effectively open season for anyone who wants to develop anything anywhere and what we need is a plan so this does not happen."
Winslow town councillor Llew Monger echoed Mr Hirons' concerns, adding it was too early to tell what the suspension of the core strategy would mean for Winslow.
He said: "We have to wait until there is a lot more clarification both from the coalition government and from AVDC and it will be interesting to see what AVDC decides the total number of houses should be. It is clear that the district council will wish to continue to expand because both the parties represented on the council want to see more jobs in Aylesbury and this means more housing. What impact that will have on rural areas remains to be seen."
He added the recent changes would have little effect on the Verney
Road development, which was already going ahead, or the Shipton
application.
> What do you think about the U-turn and what could it mean for the region? Have your say by emailing editorial@buckinghamadvertiser.co.uk.
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Monday 28 May 2012
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