Thank you for visiting our consultation website to find out more about our proposals for Beeches Park, adjacent Amersham Road and Minerva Way.
Following the initial design consultation held in June, we have reached the next stage in the preparation of our proposals for the site. Before submitting an outline planning application to Buckinghamshire Council, we are now seeking feedback on these more detailed proposals.
The feedback received as part of the design consultation held in June 2024 can be classified into four categories: Movement, Technical, Community and Environmental:
Our latest proposals have evolved since the original application submitted in 2021 by The Portman Estate.
The changes have been influenced by the feedback from the design public consultation process detailed above, pre-application discussions with the local authority and dialogue with a range of other stakeholders, as well as the result of technical investigations and design development.
These changes are highlighted in the website and through the plans which are available for you to download.
This website contains a range information, images and links to topics hosted on third party websites, which we hope you will find informative.
Design. The scheme design will strive for the highest urban design and landscape qualities that will forge a strong sense of identify and leave an enduring legacy for the site.
It will establish a distinct place, that is a recognisable extension of Beaconsfield’s identity, not a separate housing estate.
Sustainable Development. We are seeking to promote walking and cycling, with improved connections to Beaconsfield town centre and the railway station, therefore reducing reliance on the car.
Additional points of pedestrian and cycle access will be provided onto the Beaconsfield Eastern Relief Road, Amersham Road and Minerva Way.
It is envisaged that the proposals will include a high quality on-site network of walking and cycling routes that will in turn link to improvements for pedestrians and cyclists on the surrounding highway network including on and off road routes and crossings.
Highways and Access. Access to the site will be provided via new junctions formed with the Beaconsfield Eastern Relief Road and Amersham Road.
These accesses will serve vehicles as well as pedestrians and cyclists and will be compliant with local and national design guidance. There will be no vehicular link between the Relief Road and Amersham Road within the site.
Additional points of sustainable pedestrian and cycle access will be provided onto the Beaconsfield Eastern Relief Road, Amersham Road and Minerva Way.
A Transport Assessment (TA) will be submitted with the planning application, this will detail the development proposals, site accessibility, forecast trip generation and will assess the operation of the highway network in both safety and capacity terms both with and without the development (in agreement with Buckinghamshire Highways).
Flooding and Drainage. The planning application will be accompanied by a Flood Risk Assessment (FRA) and Sustainable Drainage Statement (SDS) which assess the site with respect to all types of flood risk and propose solutions for managing surface runoff and foul water.
The site is in Flood Zone 1 which is land at the lowest risk of fluvial (river) flooding and the proposed masterplan takes into account surface water (pluvial) overland flow routes, utilising the topography to maintain these and create blue/green corridors for drainage.
An indicative surface water drainage strategy will be designed in accordance with the relevant technical standards and will adhere to the guidelines as stipulated by the Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA) and national best practice.
The proposal will use Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) to capture, treat and attenuate surface water runoff from the site before allowing it to soak into the underlying sands and gravels.
Further, SuDS features will be designed to provide significant water quality and amenity benefits within the site as well as serve a drainage function as they are worked into the landscaping strategy to provide a multifunctional benefit to site users and occupants.
Heritage and Archaeology. No designated heritage assets are located within the site.
The southern part of the site is within the historic extent of Wilton Park, a 18th/19th century park associated with the now-demolished Wilton Park house.
However, the park is much altered and only fragmentary elements remain. Minerva Way, at the southern site boundary, follows the route of a historic park drive but is now an engineered road.
The archaeological potential of the site has been assessed through desk-based assessment, geophysical survey and trial trench evaluation.
New Homes. Up to 330 new homes ranging from 1 to 5 bed, houses and apartments. This represents a 25% reduction in the number of homes proposed in the 2021 planning application (450 homes previously).
The proposals now also include a residential care home development (of up to 60 bedrooms), located to the north of the site.
Net Zero Homes. The development has been designed to achieve a 100% reduction in regulated carbon emissions to meet a regulated energy net zero standard.
To achieve this the homes and buildings will feature enhanced insulation standards, heat pump heating and hot water systems and photovoltaic panels throughout.
Affordable Housing. 50% of the homes are to be provided as affordable housing.
This represents a 10% increase from the previous planning application. In addition there will be changes to the tenure of the affordable housing to include more homes for ‘social rent’ (which is set at around 50% of market rents).
Public Open Space. There are significant areas of new public open space proposed across the site. including equipped and natural children’s play areas.
The majority of the existing site is currently private land, which means there is no permitted public access.
As part of the development proposals circa 55% of the site will comprise green space (equating to circa 13 hectares), the majority of which will benefit from public access.
Significant areas of new public open space and children’s play area will be delivered as part of the proposals, providing attractive leisure spaces and helping to promote healthy lifestyles.
These new public open spaces could include:
Community Park - flexible space designed to encourage both future and existing community to come together to enjoy hard standing open plaza space, equipped play area, amenity grassland with space for informal ball sports, then with more naturalised areas to the edges.
Minerva Way Greenspace - set running parallel with the historic route of Minerva Way, a naturalistic area of open space along the southern edge of the development including potential new allotment areas
Southern Neighbourhood Space - positioned to the south of site, a green space incorporating new tree planting and low level hedges with play areas suitable for younger children.
Community Hub. Situated adjacent to the new park, the Community Hub will act as focal point for the development, connected and adjacent to the main active travel corridor running through the site.
This fully flexible community space could include shared spaces and facilities for people who work from home, to a community cafe or yoga studio. The hub could also include a car share club, cycle hire and parcel locker services to help reduce vehicle trips.
The intention is for the community and recreational facilities to be managed by a Community Trust that will give the existing community direct control over these facilities, their management and future adaptation.
Ecology. Habitats of ecological value within the site, such as woodland, mature trees and ponds will be retained and protected.
A substantial green buffer of semi-natural habitat is to be delivered next to the central woodland corridor to provide protection to woodland habitats, and offer opportunities for protected species such as reptiles, birds and invertebrates.
We are seeking to create new ecologically valuable habitats, and improve management of existing habitats, as well as public open space for residents.
Ecologically valuable habitats will increase biodiversity and improvement of existing habitats will offer opportunities for protected species, as well as areas for new residents to use.
New habitats will include mixed scrub, wildflower meadow and new tree planting.
Allotments. Community allotments incorporated and integrated as part of new public open space proposals.
Community Wildlife/Nature Reserve. A 6 hectare area running parallel and along the full length of the boundary with Eastern Relief Road.
This is an opportunity for you to have your say:
Your feedback will help shape our proposals before we submit our planning application. Comments received will be compiled in a Statement of Community Involvement which will be submitted with our planning application.
Any comments you make in response to these proposals will not affect your right to comment on the planning application submitted to the Local Authority in due course.
Currently, we are preparing an outline planning application for the site which totals 57.6 acres (23.3 hectares), and this public consultation is an important part of developing our proposals.
An outline planning application seeks to establish whether the scale and nature of a proposed development would be acceptable to the local planning authority, before a second fully detailed planning application is put forward, which is called a Reserved Matters application.
Where outline permission has been granted, an application for the outstanding reserved matters can be submitted, i.e., the information excluded from the initial outline planning application. This will typically include information about the layout, landscaping and appearance of the development. No development can take place on site until the Reserved Matters application has been consented.
Both types of applications are required to undergo public consultation before submission. Statutory consultees for example the Environment Agency and the Highways Authority, and local residents will also have the opportunity to formally comment on the applications once they are submitted and registered with Buckinghamshire Council.
An outline application is a standard way of dealing with planning, and the granting of an outline planning permission does not preclude local stakeholders from commenting on a Reserved Matters application at a later stage in the planning process.
50% of the homes proposed will be affordable housing, comprising a mixture of affordable homes for rent and affordable routes to home-ownership (such as shared ownership or rent to buy).
Affordable housing includes homes for sale or rent and is for people whose needs are not met by the private market. This includes local residents most in need, including lower income households and key local workers who are forced to live further away and commute due to property prices and relative wages.
Our research indicates that affordable housing delivery across Buckinghamshire has only been 12% of all housing delivery and South Bucks have only delivered an average of 16 affordable dwellings per annum since 2011/12. There is a minimum shortfall of 3,397 affordable dwellings across Buckinghamshire.
As a consequence, the waiting list for affordable housing across Buckinghamshire has increased to nearly 6,000 households as of 2023 and the average wait for a property of 3 or more bedrooms is more than two years.
How people access affordable housing depends on its tenure.
Generally, Local Authorities are responsible for allocating affordable housing for rent. In many instances, they will require that a local connection is demonstrated for someone to be eligible for a home. In some cases, applicants must have lived in the local area for a minimum of two years and these homes may be offered to applicants who can demonstrate family ties to the local area, or to people who previously lived in the area.
Other types of affordable housing, such as shared ownership, are generally open to anyone and can be applied for directly, subject to affordability checks.
In August 2021, The Portman Estate submitted an outline planning permission for the residential development of Beeches Park (application reference PL/21/3151/OA) which was refused by Buckinghamshire Council in November 2021.
The Portman Estate’s appeal against the Council’s refusal of planning permission was dismissed by the Planning Inspectorate in December 2022. A copy of the appeal decision is available to download in the additional information section.
Having reflected on the Appeal Decision the Portman Estate is now looking to move forward with a different approach for the redevelopment of the land.
To facilitate this, the Portman Estate has selected Catesby Estates, a specialist land promoter, to prepare and progress revised proposals for the site.
Catesby Estates are one of the UK’s leading strategic land promoters, focusing on the delivery of residential planning permissions with a strong emphasis on sustainability and good design.
The local development plan includes the saved policies of the South Bucks District Local Plan (1999, consolidated 2007 and 2011) and the South Bucks Core Strategy (2011).
With reference to the Local Plan the land at Beeches Park is situated within the Green Belt.
National Planning Policy (NPPF) states planning permission for proposals within the Green Belt should only be granted if ‘very special circumstances’ have been demonstrated. Very special circumstances can only exist if the harm identified is clearly outweighed by other considerations.
Work on an updated Local Plan for Buckinghamshire has commenced but is at a very early stage, with adoption not expected until 2027 at the earliest.
Extensive common ground was agreed as part of the 2022 appeal into the previous proposals for the site, much of which will apply again to the revised proposals.
In relation to the Green Belt, all parties agreed that the proposals would be inappropriate development as defined by the NPPF.
It was agreed that the South Bucks area (which is the relevant predecessor authority) could not demonstrate a 5-year supply of housing land. This position remains unchanged with the Council’s January 2024 Position Statement confirming a 1.3-year supply of housing sites for the five-year period 2023-2028.
In relation to highway matters, it was agreed that the additional traffic generated by the proposals could be appropriately mitigated by local highway improvements. Any changes in traffic levels would be assessed, however it is anticipated that the same conclusion will again be reached.
On other matters, it was agreed that:
In addition to the above areas of common ground, the appeal inspector also reached the following conclusions:
A case will be made that the benefits or ‘other considerations’ are of such magnitude that they outweigh the identified harms.
In addition to delivering much needed housing and creating employment growth across a range of sectors, housebuilding also provides a wide range of other economic benefits for local communities through financial contributions.
If planning permission is granted for our proposals, it would be accompanied by a legal agreement known as a S106 agreement requiring the housebuilder to make direct provision or financial contributions towards the improvement of local infrastructure.
To mitigate the impacts of the proposals financial contributions will be agreed towards the provision of new and enhanced local infrastructure. It is anticipated that this will include contributions towards:
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