Sweeping changes to Wycombe’s landscape will hit in the next few years, as it is revealed that more than 3,500 homes are needed by 2020 – with the green belt set to suffer.

Towns and villages across the district will shoulder the burden of the government’s increased housing targets, with controversial plans to open up currently-protected land now emerging.

Wycombe District Council’s draft Local Plan – developed over the last two years – projects that about 60 hectares of green belt will go for business and housing development, while an estimated 3,600 homes will need to be supplied in the next four years.

The draft plan shows areas around Booker Air Park and in Walter’s Ash taken out of the green belt with Princes Risborough likely to bear the brunt of much of the development.

The number of homes required has shot up from the 10,000 estimated by the council two years ago and now stands at about 15,000 as the area faces an unprecedented rise in housing need.

However, WDC has already admitted a shortfall is likely due to green belt constraints and is in talks with Aylesbury Vale District Council about taking 5,100 homes off its hands.

A large area of protected land at Booker Airfield is one of the sites which has been mooted for development and could be released if the council’s plans are approved following a public consultation later this year.

It comes two years after five large areas of previously secure land were released by the council – paving the way for developments of about 1,500 homes.

Residents campaigned against releasing the former reserve sites – Slate Meadow, Gomm Valley, Abbey Barn South and North and Terriers Farm – but eventually succumbed to defeat with WDC admitting it had no option but to release the sites.

When that controversial decision was made in October 2014, councillors believed they would need to build about 550 to 600 new homes a year.

But, they have been told by the government that the total needed is closer to the 750-a-year mark. And, as part of the behind-the-scene talks, 60 hectares of green belt land, across seven sites – with 20 more under consideration – would go, replaced by about 800 homes.

Included in one of the green belt sites which could be released is the RAF base in Walters Ash, although this is not understood to have an impact on housing numbers.

The draft Local Plan comes in addition to the expansion of Princes Risborough – reported by the BFP in 2014 – which, lying outside the green belt and AONB, could be expected to take as many as 2,520 new homes.

Local Plan details were outlined during a stakeholder meeting last month and it is set for public consultation this summer.

Once any changes are made, WDC’s full council will be asked to approve the final version by December ahead of it being sent to the national independent planning inspector early in 2017 for examination. WDC spokesman Sue Robinson said: “The local plan presents us with both challenges and opportunities.

“We have to demonstrate that we are working to meet our housing need, but we also want to cherish our local countryside and help our district thrive in the decades to come.

“It’s a tall order given that three quarters of the district is in the Chilterns Area Of Natural Beauty (AONB) and nearly half is Green Belt so we have to explore and test every option.

“The draft plan we are going to publish will reflect input from specialists and also takes account of some of the feedback we’ve gathered from local residents and we’ve listened carefully to local views.

“The plan involves difficult choices and we are still working on it. This is your chance to help us refine and improve the plan before it goes off to the Planning Inspector.

“This is your chance to help us to shape the future.”

The council says it will announce the start and close dates of its public consultation in the next few weeks.

What do you think of the plans? Have your say below or email andrew.colley@london.newsquest.co.uk