Princes Risborough Police Station needs ‘appropriate’ development plan after ‘poor’ housing project

In October, Buckinghamshire Council refused to grant Crossan Homes permission to knock down the former Thames Valley Police office and replace it with four terraced houses.

With the station’s future uncertain, Princes Risborough’s MP Greg Smith, who represents Mid Buckinghamshire, called for a better plan to redevelop the Longwick Road site.

He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “I’ve always been very clear on my stance regarding preferred development on brownfield sites over greenfield sites.

“However, this was a significant overdevelopment, and I’d welcome alternative solutions that would be more appropriate for the area.”

Crossan’s plans included a pair of two-bedroom homes and another two properties with three bedrooms, all of which would be between two and two and a half storeys.

Each of the ‘family dwellings’ would have had its own garden and private parking to the front of the site.

But Matthew Walsh, the councillor for the Risboroughs ward, was not a fan of the scale of the plans.

He said: “In my opinion, this proposal is a huge overdevelopment of the site that has been rightfully had its application rejected.

“No one wanted to see the police station close in the first place, and now we wait for an appropriate application.”

The station closed in 2022, and the Princes Risborough neighbourhood team moved into their new office in the town’s fire station.