Classification: OFFICIAL PORep1070 (REDACTED) PART A – YOUR DETAILS

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Consultation Database (Mailing List) The Councils have a Consultation Database (mailing list) used to keep individuals and organisations informed about Planning Policy Documents across both Council areas. Documents include: the Local Plan, Supplementary Planning Documents and Neighbourhood Plans, (please note some plans may not be applicable to your area).

Chiltern District Council and South Bucks District Council are the Data Controllers for the purposes of the Data Protection Act 1998. Individuals and organisations on the Planning Policy Consultation Database will only be contacted by the Councils in relation to the preparation and production of planning policy documents. The Councils will not publish the names of those individuals on the database but may publish names of statutory bodies and organisations at certain stages of the Local Plan process. Please indicate if you want to be added to the joint consultation database (tick box below). Please note: you do not need to tick this box if you received a letter or email notification from the Councils prior to the start of the consultation, as you are already registered.

Page 1 of 3 Classification: OFFICIAL PORep1070 (REDACTED) PART B – RESPONSE

Green Belt Options – Please Provide your Comments The Councils have concluded that land within the Green Belt will need to be released in order to contribute to meeting development needs to 2036. This is despite maximising opportunities on ‘brownfield land’ or sites within the built areas and on previously developed land in the Green Belt.

The Councils have identified 15 preferred options for development in the Green Belt after taking account of views expressed in a consultation earlier this year and testing a full range of options. All of these preferred options if suitable for development will be needed to contribute to our development needs. They are ‘preferred’ options at this stage as work is on-going to test their suitability.

Further testing following this consultation will establish what infrastructure (e.g. highway improvements, schools, medical facilities etc.) will be needed to support the options moving forward taking into account current pressures and circumstances.

We are consulting on these 15 preferred options to: a) Seek views to help determine their suitability for development; b) Help understand views on what type of development should be sought if suitable and what type of requirements (other than infrastructure) should be secured as part of development; c) Enable comments on the draft technical work supporting the selection of the preferred options; and d) Provide the opportunity for alternative options to be put forward.

Evidence and background documents are available here: www.chiltern.gov.uk/planning/localplan2014- 2036/evidence and www.southbucks.gov.uk/planning/localplan2014-2036/evidence.

When commenting please clearly indicate which preferred option(s) you are commenting on.

Please do not provide any personal information you do not want to be made publically available as these comments may be published at a later date.

I am writing to object to the proposal to develop 900 homes on land referred to as preferred Site Option 1 to the NE of .

In summary I feel that the area is already hugely congested with more people than the various elements of the infrastructure can handle. This includes roads, tube links, doctors, parking, pollution, schools, etc. I have lived in Orchard Leigh for ten years and have seen this get worse each and every year.

There is simply no way the area can sustain an extra 900 homes…which I would guess adds maybe 1,800 cars (@ 2 cars per home) and perhaps 2,000 people (@ 2.3 people per home) to the area?

Allow me to provide some specific observations…

- Road network; driving through Chesham town I almost always sit in heavy traffic jams. The congestion is awful. This is especially the case in rush hour. More and more I need to use 'rat run' country lanes to get from Chesham to , and beyond as the main routes are clogged and add significant time to my journey. This is not ideal for those hamlets/communities now having substantial cars and lorries drive through whilst attempting to avoid the main roads. This will only get worse with such a huge number of additional vehicles and will cause additional pollution to the environment. Page 2 of 3 Classification: OFFICIAL PORep1070 (REDACTED)

- Parking in the town; this is already over subscribed and is a reason I've started to sometimes use Amazon rather than support my local high street. Substantial additional people just means it will be impossible to park in Chesham to use the shops and people will use online shopping or travel elsewhere instead.

- Tube network; there are too few trains to/from London serving Chesham. It is a battle to get on a Chesham train (in rush hour back from work) at Finchley Road to Chesham as there are too many people trying to board the rare Chesham trains. I am not referring to a lack of seats…just getting onto the train is often impossible. Adding so many people to the area will make this much worse.

- Schools, doctors, other facilities; when attempting to book a non emergency appointment at the doctors surgery we are often given a date two or three weeks out. Doctors work extremely hard but cannot perform miracles with their schedules. Additional people in such great numbers will make this even worse for the existing people in Chesham.

- Paths; there are no paths from Orchard Leigh and the middle of to Chesham. I try to keep fit by running but I take my life into my hands each time on Rushmere Lane as there is no safe pathway…this means people need to drive everywhere further adding to my first bullet above.

- Green belt; I do understand that most people say 'not in my back yard' to substantial numbers of new houses in their areas. However 900 homes being built on greenbelt seems contrary to everything I've ever been told about the term 'greenbelt'. Isn't the point that we protect this for future generations…once it is gone, it will never be converted back into rolling countryside again. The area you are proposing is a beautiful part of the Chiltern countryside and your proposed plans merely extend Chesham into Lye Green, Orchard Leigh, etc. destroying these currently individual communities.

All in all I would ask you reconsider your preferred option of developing 900 homes on land referred to as preferred Site Option 1 to the NE of Chesham. The sheer scale of such a huge development will have a substantially detrimental impact on the existing residents in the area…not just Lye Green and Orchard Leigh but all of Chesham and beyond.

I'd also like to make the point that the only reason I am aware of these proposals is due to the protest signage that has been put up around Chesham. I am confused as to why these proposals seem to have been kept secret, or at the very least, been put together within minimum visibility for the local people. Perhaps they have been on a council website somewhere for a while but how would local people know to look out for such proposals? The council is funded by the tax payer and is here to act in the interests of local people. Such behaviour doesn't seem to match this as far as I can understand.

I urge the council to remove the Lye Green site from the list of preferred options.

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