A COMMUNITY centre, sports pitches, a public park and a care home are all on the cards for Beaconsfield after early plans for a major housing development were discussed for the first time.

A blueprint outlining South Bucks District Council’s vision for transforming Wilton Park will be put out for public consultation in the next two months.

The plans have been developed with Inland Homes, the ‘preferred bidder’ that agreed a deal with the MoD for the former Defence School of Languages site last month.

Plans include 17 hectares of public open space, up to 300 new homes and a new bus route linking Beaconsfield with the park to the east.

SBDC’s Sustainable Development Policy Advisory Group met on December 17 to discuss the Wilton Park Supplementary Planning Document.

And councillors agreed to start a six-week consultation period, two weeks longer than the usual timescale due to the scale of the project.

The document, which takes into account public feedback from Inland Homes exhibition in March, outlines plans for a ‘Community Hub’ which will double as changing rooms for the sports fields.

The community centre could also incorporate healthcare facilities if required.

Commercial office space earmarked for the area would allow offices, a care home, a crèche and small scale local retail to set up alongside new homes.

Many of the existing buildings, including the 15-storey tower block, are likely to be demolished, though some could be retained.

The document pledges to provide a 40 per cent affordable housing mix, up to 120 homes, as part of the council’s Core Policy obligations.

The first section of a relief road for London End is also proposed, with access from the Pyebush roundabout.

This would rely on the County Council funding the remainder of the road past the park boundary, with a relief road remaining one of the highway authority’s top five priorities.

School places emerged as a key issue for Beaconsfield residents during the initial consultation, and the council claims existing schools will have to create extra places.

There are no plans for a new school to be built at Wilton Park.

Following the consultation period, SBDC will take into account the public response before completing a finalised blueprint for developers to use when applying for formal planning permission.