Buckinghamshire Local Plan
Background
The Buckinghamshire Local Plan sets out housing needs for Bucks over the next 20 years. It is driven by Central Government housing targets which have been increased by 43% for Bucks. These targets are NOT optional and Bucks have to show they are making good progress to achieve this target. Central Government are monitoring the process closely and are empowered to take over if they feel Bucks are not progressing. Bucks are aiming to keep control and demonstrate they are achieving the targets despite not agreeing with them. When in place, the Local Plan will allow Bucks to regain control over speculative applications from developers.
The initial site consultation was undertaken in March, and all responses have been analysed by Bucks. There were over 10,000 representations, which were mainly site specific, and the review of all these has allowed some changes to be made to the draft plan.
What is happening now
The final draft plan has now been issued by Bucks CC and the Consultation on this will open on 23rd July and run to 6th September. Bucks CC have acknowledged that the timing of this consultation is not ideal, spanning the holiday period, but central government have dictated that the consultation must start by this date.
Overall, having reviewed all sites, there are fewer identified, and the ‘buffer’ number has been removed so numbers are now based on the 91,230 calculated housing need. Bucks CC have also advised that it has not been necessary to allocate any new sites from green or grey belt.
How you can view the plan
There is a new interactive map showing all sites proposed by developers which have been assessed and agreed by the council. You can view this here
Buckinghamshire Local Plan Policies Map
The legend is as follows:
- Pale blue – mixed use
- Brown – housing
- There are other classifications, in Little Chalfont, for example, you will see that Cytiva is shown as a key employment site.
By clicking on the shape in question, you can find the reasons why Bucks classified the site as they have.
How it impacts Little Chalfont
In Little Chalfont, you will see that there are 3 small sites identified, the land at Station Approach, for mixed use, the Elizabeth Avenue site, again for mixed retail and residential use, and land at the rear of St. George’s Church, for housing (which is a new allocation).
Local meeting
The Bucks Councillors for the Chalfont St Giles and Little Chalfont ward, Carl Jackson, Simon Rouse and Martin Tett will be holding a public meeting to address the impact of the Local Plan across the whole ward on Saturday 8th August at 1.30pm in the Memorial Hall in Chalfont St Giles. All residents of Little Chalfont are very welcome to attend.
Responding to the Consultation
It is very important that as many residents as possible respond to this consultation and endorse the approach taken by Bucks CC. There will still be plenty of speculative developers lobbying to have further sites included until the Local Plan is finalised in 2027, this latest draft plan doesn’t mean that current planning applications ‘disappear’.
The consultation will not ask for any suggestions for changes or new proposals, or for any general comments, wishes or suggestions. You can indicate that you have viewed the Local Plan draft and that you endorse the plan and the process.
The Draft Plan and documents will be available via Your Voice Bucks, where you will also be able to leave your comments. We will include a link when this is available.
Please do have your say!
Roads and Maintenance
To see information about all major roadworks occurring in or around Little Chalfont, you can follow the first link below to the Bucks Council website which takes you to the Causeway one.network. Here you can find all the current, planned road closures and road works and those planned for future time periods. Clicking on individual roadworks on the interactive map gives more details such as reason and timescale.
Check for roadworks and closures
You can also register with the Causeway website and set up alerts for works in your chosen area and receive periodic updates. The following blog explains how to do this:
How Planning works in Bucks
Buckinghamshire Council is the local authority for all of Buckinghamshire. It deals with all aspects of planning.
Bucks Gov Website – Planning and building control
This link will take you to the part of their website which covers specific applications, but also their policies. There’s a lot here, but importantly, you will see that there is not yet a Local Plan for Buckinghamshire. When this is published and approved, it will become a key reference document for everyone.
There is also a Chiltern District Local Plan, but this dates back to 1997 (with some later revisions), and many parts are no longer relevant.
It’s worth mentioning also that there is a National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) which is published by the UK Government and which sets out national policies – last published in December 2024. Bucks have to take this into account when making their decisions:
Read the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)
Each time a planning application is submitted, Bucks appoint a Planning Officer to “own” the application. Their job is to assess and manage the application and to participate in the decision-making process at the end.
Buckinghamshire Council’s Planning Committee determine the outcome of planning applications.
Our Parish Council (PC) reviews all applications that affect us. At their monthly committee meeting, the councillor who has been studying the application makes a recommendation as to whether to object or not. The committee then considers this and posts their comments online, just as individual residents do.
Note that the PC takes a common sense not a technical approach. They are not planning experts. And the PC does not have any control over which decision the Bucks planners reach.
If a planning decision is made with which someone disagrees, there is a right to appeal but this is a long and costly process.
The best way to comment on an application
Relevant comments (which include objections) are not easy to put together. This is especially true as, for confidentiality reasons, comments made by other residents are no longer visible online.
Bucks Council give a useful guide on making comments here:
Bucks Gov Website – Comment or object to a planning application
The most important bit is at the bottom. It shows all the types of comments that they will consider and those they will not. It is not helpful to make comments that they won’t consider. At worst, this may mean that they don’t pay attention to your relevant comments (they do get a huge number of comments).
What type of applications do we include on this website?
Applications that we think have an impact on people who live and work in Little Chalfont.
We won’t include applications that affect one neighbour or one part of one road (e.g. an extension or a new house design) unless the application affects Little Chalfont as a whole.
Current applications
The table below lists all relevant applications that we have identified – with the appropriate links to plans and documents which guide the Bucks planning team when they review comments.
Updated on 20th July 2026.
Location/Name | Reference Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Application for 7 dwellings north of Long Walk | Approved | |
Application for change of land use west of Bell Lane | PL/24/3925/FA | Approved |
Application for vehicular access onto A404 from 1 Oakington Avenue. | PL/25/4452/FA | Decided - appeal overturned |
Buckinghamshire Local Plan consultation | Final consultation opens shortly |
Note: The Bell Lane application is for land that is, technically, outside Little Chalfont Parish. We believe that its impact on Bell Lane would be considerable. It is likely that this “Change of use from agricultural land to a Suitable Alternative Natural Green Space (SANG)” is phase one of a broader scheme to add more flats and houses on the land between Bell Lane and Raans Road.
To comment on any application, just click here:
Bucks Gov Website – Online applications
and copy and paste the reference number, which we list in the “Current applications” section above, into the search box at the bottom of the page and click “search”.
You’ll need to register and login if you want to comment but this is straightforward.
Register and login here
For applications and information relating to the Little Chalfont Park development please see the Little Chalfont Park liaison group website
If you think that there is any part of this new planning section which we could improve, please send an email to enquiries@littlechalfont.org.uk Thank you.
Disclaimer
Any information on this website cannot and does not seek to be a substitute for specialist advice from a planning professional. The information is provided only to assist the Little Chalfont community to understand the basics of how and when the community can voice its views on planning applications, how planning applications are considered and some of the factors the planning officers and the council planning committee will consider when reaching a decision.
The LCCA is not responsible for any errors or omissions, or for the results obtained from the use of this information. All information in this planning section is provided “as is”, with no guarantee of completeness, accuracy, timeliness or of the results obtained from the use of this information.
