The Central & North Buckinghamshire Area Planning Committee met to discuss planning application 25/00199/APP, which concerns the erection of nine homes on land north of Mursley Road in Little Horwood. The report pack recommends that the decision be deferred and delegated to the Service Director of Planning and Environment for approval, pending publicity of the application as a departure from the Development Plan and the satisfactory completion of a Section 106 agreement¹.

Land North of Mursley Road, Little Horwood

The committee was scheduled to discuss planning application 25/00199/APP for the erection of nine detached and semi-detached two-storey dwellings, with a new access off Mursley Road, footpaths, carports, parking, landscaping and enabling works, on land north of Mursley Road, Little Horwood, Buckinghamshire, MK17 0PA.

The applicant, Abbeymill Homes, seeks full planning permission for the 0.42 hectare site. According to the report pack, the market housing would be comprised of two three-bedroom dwellings and four four-bedroom dwellings, and the affordable housing would be comprised of two two-bedroom dwellings and one three-bedroom dwellings.

The application was called in by Little Horwood Parish Council and Councillor John Chilver, the Ward Member for Horwood, due to concerns about the development being outside the village settlement area, its encroachment onto open greenfield land, the poor quality of design, the impact on drainage and increased risk of flooding, sustainability issues, the capacity of the local electricity substation, and increasing traffic flows through the village.

The report pack notes that the site lies outside of, but immediately adjacent to, the built up area of Little Horwood, and is therefore located in open countryside where development is generally restricted. It acknowledges that the proposal is not allocated in the Development Plan and is contrary to several policies of the Vale of Aylesbury Local Plan (VALP).

The development would result in a notable change to the character of the site, leading to the loss of its rural appearance and contributing to urban encroachment. Officers consider this to cause moderate landscape and visual harm. There is also less than substantial harm (at the lower end) to the setting of the Little Horwood Consideration Area, although this is considered to be outweighed by the public benefits of the scheme. The harm caused by the loss of ridge and furrow earthworks on the site is afforded moderate weight.

The report pack also notes that Buckinghamshire Council cannot currently demonstrate a five-year supply of deliverable housing land², with the latest figure standing at 3.6 years, triggering the presumption in favour of sustainable development under paragraph 11(d) of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).

The report pack states that the recommendation was to defer and delegate the application to the Service Director of Planning and Environment for APPROVAL, subject to publicising the application as a departure from the Development Plan, satisfactory completion of a Section 106 agreement, and subject to the conditions proposed by officers.