High Court rejects challenge to Wycombe District Local Plan
The High Court has today (23 July) rejected a legal challenge to the Wycombe District Local Plan (the Plan) by local residents group, Keep Bourne End Green.
The challenge focused on whether there had been an error in law relating to the use of household projections that informed the overall housing target of the Plan, in the application of Government policy in justifying the removal of the Hollands Farm site at Bourne End from the Green Belt, and whether the Council had complied with habitat regulations.
All the grounds considered by the Court were rejected by the Honourable Mr Justice Holgate in his 49-page ruling. The High Court ruling can be see here:
Councillor Warren Whyte, Cabinet Member for Planning and Enforcement at Buckinghamshire Council said:
“I am absolutely delighted with this ruling. Whilst I recognise that the Local Plan involved making some difficult decisions about the scale of new development and where that new development should take place, I believe that this was done in a fair and reasonable way and in a way that fully involved local people. I am pleased that the judge has upheld the Council’s position.”
The Local Plan was adopted in August 2019 by the former Wycombe District Council and remains in force as part of the planning framework for the new Buckinghamshire Council. The Plan sets a target for just under 11,000 homes to be built in the former Wycombe District area over a 20 year period. The Hollands Farm site at Bourne End is allocated for about 467 homes in the Local Plan.