“Make sure you get a say on where 31,000 new homes should go”

A document setting out the issues and options for Vale of Aylesbury Local Plan (VALP) is available to view at www.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk/valp.

Residents have until December 4 to give their views and ideas on what the plan should achieve, how new homes and jobs should be distributed and what new policies could be introduced to manage development between now and 2033.

A series of public exhibitions, where planning officers have been explaining the options and answering any questions, have been held across the Vale and, following requests, an extra session will be held on Friday 20 November at Buckingham Community Centre, 11am to 8pm.

Councillor Carole Paternoster, cabinet member for growth strategy, said: “We are beginning to get responses back but we need to ensure that everyone is aware of how important it is to make their views known.

“We need to build at least another 31,000 new homes in Aylesbury Vale by 2033 and the new Local Plan will provide the framework for how the Vale will grow and develop to accommodate this.

“The outcome of this plan will affect all residents in the Vale. We need to ensure people are aware of the different options we have identified and that they raise with us any issues they feel need addressing.”

Whilst still in its early stages, once finalised the Local Plan will provide firm guidance on how planning applications should be considered and say where new development should or should not take place. This is the second public consultation stage in the new Local Plan’s preparation and it includes nine potential options for distributing new development.

The options include developing urban extensions at Milton Keynes/Bletchley; using land more efficiently by raising the average density of new development; creating a whole new settlement somewhere in the Vale; and a combination of these.

People can view the consultation and give their feedback via www.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk/valp. The responses received will inform the development of a draft local plan. There will be two further consultation periods prior to the local plan being considered at a public examination in 2017.