Statement of Community Involvement April 2021 Content 1. Introduction 3 2. National Planning Context 4 3. The Local Plan 5 4. Development Brief 6 5. Evolution of Proposals 7 6. Community Consultation 8 7. Feedback 9 - 12 8. Summary Of Issues Raised & Responses 13 - 20 9. Appendices 21 - 29 10.Background – About Catesby Estates 30 2 1. Introduction Catesby Estates is preparing proposals for new development on land known as Hollands Farm in Bourne End. The development will cater for the whole community, from first time buyers looking for affordable housing, families looking for a place to grow, and homes for those looking to downsize. Our proposals include 400 new homes with 48% affordable housing, land for a new one form entry primary school, public open space and footpath and cycle routes across the site linking up with the wider area. Hollands Farm is adjacent to Hedsor Road and associated properties to the south; Heavens Lea and Hawks Hill boarders the site to the east, and Wessex Road and Millboard Road lie adjacent to the western boundary of the site. Bourne End is a highly desirable, but expensive place to live, meaning many people are priced out of the market and are being forced to relocate from an area they grew up in, or are unable to upsize or downsize to meet their housing requirements. Hollands Farm represents a unique opportunity to create a vibrant and sustainable new housing development for Bourne End. 3 2. National Planning Context Community involvement is a key point within the national planning policy (NPPF) noted as: “Early engagement has significant potential to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the planning application system for all parties.” “Good quality pre-application discussion enables better coordination between public and private resources and improved outcomes for the community.” Catesby Estates interact with local communities as soon as possible within the planning process, working closely with planning officials and Councils, striving for excellence in communication to inform and consult with all parties at each stage of the process. 4 3. The Local Plan It is now widely understood that one of the Government’s core objectives is to significantly boost the supply of housing nationally in order to address the ever increasing housing crisis resulting from a lack of affordability in the market and the consequent need for new homes of all types sizes and tenures. To this end the Government has targeted to deliver 300,000 new dwellings per year. The National Planning Policy Framework (the Framework) is the Government’s principal policy tool for the delivery of sustainable planning and development across England. The Framework seeks to deliver the significant increase in new homes that are required in a sustainable manner. Planning Context The site known as Hollands Farm was removed from the Green Belt and allocated for residential development by Wycombe District Council in 2019. The overarching planning policy is set out in Policy BE2 of that Local Plan. An application by local group, Keep Bourne End Green (KBEG), to go to the Court of Appeal was refused permission (3rd November 2020) stating “where permission to appeal has been refused on the papers, that decision is final and cannot be further reviewed or appealed.” This followed the High Court dismissing their statutory challenge in July 2020 to the adoption of the Wycombe Local Plan (now forming part of Buckinghamshire Council). KBEG objected to land being removed from the Green Belt at Bourne End and allocated for housing in the Local Plan. The Local Plan remains adopted, which allocated for residential purposes our 52 acre site known as Hollands Farm which forms part of a wider allocation in Bourne End which was removed from the Green Belt The Council has been preparing a Development Brief document which is designed to guide development of the site. This has been prepared with input from the Parish Council, Councillors and Catesby Estates and was subject to public consultation, prior to Catesby Estates commencing public consultation on the proposals for the outline planning application. Statement of Community Involvement As set out firstly in the Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) for Wycombe District Council and more recently in the emerging draft Buckinghamshire Council SCI, we have actively looked to work with residents and local stakeholders during the planning process. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought about many changes across the country, including how public consultation for new development can be carried out. How we interact and share our views has changed for at least the short to medium term and we have had to adapt our usual consultation techniques due to social distancing restrictions. The details of which can be seen later in this document 5 4. Development Brief Catesby Estates has been assisting Buckinghamshire Council on a Development Brief for the Hollands Farm site. This document has been subject to public consultation and is Draft Supplementary Planning Document Guidance (SPD). This application has been closely informed by the Draft Development Brief SPD. Leading up to submission, discussions, including during the preparation of the Development Brief, have been held almost monthly since June 2019 with Buckinghamshire Council (formerly Wycombe District Council). In addition, various statutory consultees have also been consulted, including but not limited to: . Highways . LLFA . Ecology and Arboricultural . LVA – to agree viewpoints . Early discussions held with conservation officer and archaeological officer The Development Brief has been subject to meetings and input from the Community Liaison Group. This includes local councillors with members of the Neighbourhood Plan Working Party and Parish Council also in attendance. These discussions have resulted in the Development Brief providing guidance for the Site including but not limited to: . Landscape and placemaking . Settlement character . Historic context and design responses . Access and movement . Location of primary school . Ecological considerations . Flood risk and drainage . Amenity of existing and future residents . Onsite and offsite infrastructure including Burnham Beeches SAC Mitigation . In addition, a Planning Performance Agreement was entered into between Wycombe District Council, Catesby Estates and Capreon. The timetable and aim of this collaborative approach can be seen opposite. 6 5. Evolution Of Proposals As part of our ongoing work with the Council and other consultees through the pre submission process and drafting of the Development Brief, we have evolved our proposals in line with feedback received. This evolution process can be seen in the images below (left to right): • Submitted Regulation 19 Concept Masterplan • The Draft Development Brief Framework Masterplan • Catesby Estates Public Consultation Masterplan 7 6. Community Consultation Catesby Estates has been actively promoting this site, through the Local Plan process since Feedback 2017. Five opportunities for providing feedback were offered (telephone, email, online feedback form, online survey or freepost), encouraging members of the public to get in touch if they We looked to carry out early engagement opportunities by writing to and offering a had any further questions or wished to discuss the proposals in more detail. meetings with a range of local stakeholders, including: Feedback on the proposals commence on Thursday 18th February 2021 and was accepted Ward Councillors, Cabinet Members, MP’s, Woodburn and Bourne End Parish Council up to, and including Thursday 11th March 2021. (including their Neighbourhood Plan Working Group), Bourne End Residents Association, Appendix C Hawks Hill & Widmoor Residents Association and the Keep Bourne End Action Group (KBEG). Advertising An advert was run in the Bucks Free Press detailing the start of the public consultation on Some were happy to engage and we have sort to keep those lines of communication open, Friday 12th February 2021. Online adverts through their website and Facebook pages were and others declined. also run for 7 days commencing 12th February. These received 36,854 impressions and 173 clicks via Facebook and 133 via their website. We met with representative of the Wooburn and Bourne End Parish Council in August 2018 to carry out initial introductions and to discuss the site coming forward. Notification of the public consultation was also sent in advance to: Ward Councillors, Woodburn and Bourne End Parish Council, Bourne End Residents In June 2020 a virtual round table meeting was held with representatives from Association, Hawks Hill & Widmoor Residents Association and the Keep Bourne End Action Buckinghamshire Council, Wooburn and Bourne End Parish Council and other local Group (KBEG). stakeholders. This was to discuss our proposals and the Council’s Development Brief further. We have offered further meetings, remained in contact and updated them Posts were also added to the Facebook page @hollandsfarm and a number of Facebook regarding the commencement of our wider public consultation. adverts ran detailing the consultation. From the initial letter drop to the end of the consultation via the Facebook page 16,437 people were reached. A further 16,575 people We met with Dominic Grieve MP for Beaconsfield in 2019, and we wrote to his successor were also reached using Facebook advertising. Joy Morrisey on two separate occasions requesting a meeting which received no reply. Appendix D The proactive approach taken by