Concerns raised as Wing could be 'hammered' by plan for 2,400 extra houses

The meeting was held to raise concerns over the potential impact of the Wing Housing Expansion Plan, set out in Buckinghamshire Council’s work towards its Local Plan.

Buckinghamshire Councillors Kathy Gibbon and Julie Ward met with the residents to hear their views.

But Helen Sunday, chair of Wing Parish Council has said she is ‘very cross’ over the plans and has urged people to make their views known in a consultation – before the deadline on March 16.

Cllr Ward explained a local plan is a legal requirement, and the best defence against speculative development, but that the government has decided to increase Buckinghamshire’s housing target by 43 per cent – meaning around 95,000 homes must be built within the county over the next 20 years.

But residents raised concerns about the lack of infrastructure, as there is no committed money from central government for the upgrades required to support the level of development, particularly for smaller communities like Wing, which could see over 2,000 homes imposed on the village.

Cllr Ward said: "he engagement is still under way, and I would urge as many residents as possible to take part and put forward their comments. It was clear from the meeting how strongly people feel about protecting the village and how the current infrastructure can't cope with such a sudden influx of homes."

The consultation is open until 11.59pm on March 16, and you can find out all the information here

Residents also fear the Local Plan is misleading – with potential impact of roads, schools, community services and facilities, being based on 1,600 new homes and not 2,400 as outlined in the proposals.

Helen Sunday, chair of Wing Parish Council, said: “I am very cross. Given that Wing is potentially to be hammered by the local plan with 2,400 new houses with limited evidence of justification and erroneous assessments.”

Cllr Ward said she did not attend a Parish council meeting as the date had been wrongly advertised.

The consultation on the Wing housing expansion plan in Buckinghamshire is part of the broader Local Plan process for the county. The consultation aims to gather feedback from residents and stakeholders to shape the future development of the area.

Steven Broadbent, Leader of Buckinghamshire Council, said: “The sites we’ve published have been identified as being potentially suitable for development under the Local Plan for Buckinghamshire’s plan-making process and we’re currently checking their suitability, and viability, as required under local plan regulations. This includes liaising with infrastructure providers to ensure we can secure the infrastructure needed to support the plan. Only when this stage of technical assessment has been completed can we make any decisions about what might be allocated in a final Local Plan - which will be published in July for further consultation.

“Securing funding for the infrastructure needed to accommodate the 95,000 new homes required by the Government is a major concern. Although some of the new infrastructure costs will be paid for by developers, that will cover only a small fraction of the multibillion-pound investment required to deliver the necessary roads, transport links, schools, healthcare provision, and energy infrastructure. I’d invite residents and interested parties to share comments relating to specific sites via the site survey which closes on March 16.”

Wing Parish Council was approached for comment.