The Strategic Sites Committee of Buckinghamshire Council approved plans for 87 dwellings at Tralee Farm, Wycombe Road, Holmer Green, subject to a range of conditions aimed at enhancing landscaping, safety, and amenity. The committee also discussed and approved updated plans for electric vehicle charging points and additional tree planting, while deleting a redundant noise condition.

Tralee Farm Development Approved with Conditions

The committee granted approval for the reserved matters application for the development of 87 dwellings at Tralee Farm, Wycombe Road, Holmer Green. This approval, subject to numerous conditions, covers the appearance, landscaping, and scale of the development, following an outline planning permission that had already established the principle of development, access, and layout.

Key decisions and discussions included:

• Landscaping and Boundary Treatments: A significant focus was placed on landscaping and boundary treatments to mitigate the impact on existing residents and enhance the visual appeal of the development. This included a new condition for additional tree planting between plot 50 and the boundary with 2 Kestrel Drive to soften the view of the development for existing residents. The committee also agreed to ensure that the lighting scheme for the emergency vehicle route between the application site and the HW8 south site would be included in future considerations.
• Safety and Amenity: Several conditions were imposed to address safety concerns. These included a condition to secure a scheme for safety measures around the attenuation pond, particularly for children, and the installation of bollards at the ends of paths through the northwestern play space and northeastern retained woodland to prevent vehicular access. The committee also requested a condition for details of play space drainage to be provided.
• Electric Vehicle Charging and Parking: An updated block plan was approved, ensuring that all parking spaces, both allocated and unallocated, would have access to an electric vehicle charging point. An informative was added to the permission to encourage the discouragement of car parking on the accessways serving the flats' parking areas, suggesting signage or road markings to direct residents and visitors to designated bays.
• Tree Planting and Woodland: The committee approved the inclusion of additional trees within the garden of plot 50, adjacent to 2 Kestrel Drive. While the initial proposal for trees along the main entrance from Wycombe Road was noted as being deciduous birch trees, concerns were raised about leaf fall in enclosed areas. However, officers confirmed that the footways themselves would be clear of trees, mitigating this specific concern. The retention of the woodland in the northeastern corner of the site was guaranteed.
• Noise Condition Deleted: A condition requiring compliance with the Noise Impact Assessment was deleted, as the assessment did not specify bespoke noise attenuation requirements beyond standard building regulations.
• Parish Council Concerns: Both Hazlemere Parish Council and Little Missenden Parish Council had raised objections. Hazlemere Parish Council highlighted concerns regarding boundary treatments, landscape buffers, community safety, and impacts on neighbouring properties, referencing objections from Thames Valley Police. Little Missenden Parish Council raised issues concerning coalescence, access, traffic, infrastructure capacity, and the scale of the three-storey apartment building. Officers addressed these by noting that many of these matters had been considered at the outline planning stage or would be managed through existing conditions and legal agreements.

The decision to approve was made unanimously, with Councillor Clive Harriss, who arrived after the officer's presentation, not participating in the vote. The committee expressed a desire to ensure that all raised points were adequately addressed through the imposed conditions and delegated the final wording of some conditions to officers in consultation with the Chairman.