For too long it has been too hard to afford a decent place to live. The Government is committed to turning this around with a bold national housebuilding programme, including affordable housing and council housing. This is both right and necessary.

It is also right that Buckinghamshire plays its part in delivering the homes of the future. This will ensure that our young people have the chance to rent or buy a local home.

I do however have three strong concerns about the draft Local Plan published by Buckinghamshire Council today. For context, I also note that it is regrettable that this Plan did not exist sooner. For six years Buckinghamshire Council sat on its hands, ultimately forcing the Government to step in and set a housing target and a deadline for Buckinghamshire to get its Local Plan ready. This is despite the great work of many villages to produce Neighbourhood Plans, which should have been given due consideration sooner by the Council.

Generally, I also question whether it’s fair for Aylesbury and the villages, with 20% of Buckinghamshire’s existing population, to accommodate over 30% of Buckinghamshire’s housing growth, having already accommodated so much already.

My first concern is the appropriateness of the very large developments proposed near Wing and Cheddington. I am also looking carefully at the large numbers proposed for Aston Clinton.

I am very surprised that Cheddington has now been included in the Plan, having been rejected by the Government’s New Towns Taskforce just last year, and deprioritised in earlier drafts of the Council’s Plan. The Council's own assessments identify several infrastructure challenges for Cheddington, including rural road networks, constrained rail capacity, and limited bus routes. I also cannot see how somewhere as small as Cheddington gets green-lighted for development when the Government’s guidance prioritises building in bigger urban settlements first.

Wing Action Group has already made very compelling points to challenge the Council’s proposals for their village, from the high-quality agricultural land included in the site, to the pressure on schools, healthcare, traffic, and many other aspects of the existing community, as well as the cumulative environmental impact of the proposed development. Some housing growth could be appropriate in Wing, but the proposed New Town is a fundamental alteration to the village’s character, more than doubling the number of existing dwellings.

My second concern is the lower-than-expected targets for affordable and social housing. The Government has set a target for a minimum of 40% affordable homes per county, with half of that being social housing. Buckinghamshire Council has said that in the north of the county only 25% is viable.

By the Council’s own calculations in earlier drafts of the Local Plan, the county needs approximately 36,500 affordable houses. However, only 14,800 are set to be delivered. The county also needs around 21,900 social rentals, yet 8,880 have been proposed in the Plan.

It is not acceptable for residents to be put through all the disruption and distress of housing developments only to perpetuate existing patterns of unaffordability, and I will be asking for another look at whether this percentage can be increased.

My third concern is the lack of clarity over proposed infrastructure and services, which is essential if we are going to build not just new houses but functioning and flourishing new communities. I have already been pushing for the completion of the Aylesbury Link Road, which is essential, as well as other road upgrades through our villages and the rail link from Aylesbury to Milton Keynes.

I expect housing growth to be matched with a full plan for our infrastructure, jobs, community facilities and services, from healthcare to parks and burial grounds. I expect serious attention to be given to the proposed Aylesbury Town Centre Regeneration, in partnership with Aylesbury Town Council and the community.

The Government cannot allocate funding for infrastructure until the Local Plan is ready, but I stand ready to make the case for any support that we need.

I will publish my formal submission to the Local Plan consultation in August, and I will continue to work with residents as I prepare this over the summer consultation period.