The chairman of a residents association said having five minutes to object to a planning application in a planning committee meeting is “very undemocratic.”

Sandy Saunders, Beaconsfield Old Town Residents Association chairman, felt that five minutes to sum up all residents’ complaints about the London End development at a South Bucks District Council planning committee was not enough time and said he was “very upset at the way the whole thing was handled.”

He now plans to request a meeting with the chair of the committee, Cllr Jacquetta Lowen-Cooper to talk about his concerns.

Mr Saunders said only three residents’ objections out of 29, could be heard at the meeting last week because of the time limit and vowed that as chairman of BOTRA, he must “honour its commitment to BOTRA members to take all lawful steps to protect the conservation area and our green belt land.”

He said: “The application completely disregards the need to acknowledge that this part of the Old Town is a conservation area.

“It will result in severe overdevelopment of the site, and an adverse impact on the amenities of surrounding properties, including loss of light and privacy.”

Mr Saunders said other district councils allow more time for objectors to voice their complaints, but both Wycombe and Chiltern District Councils allow just three minutes.

The Beaconsfield Society chairman, Mike Elliot, said five minutes is “absolutely not enough time” to voice concerns over an application.

He said: “It is five minutes for everyone who wishes to object. Luckily we assumed BOTRA would be objecting so we met up with them beforehand to maximise what could be said at the planning committee and make sure what we had to say was heard.”