Plans to build two homes next to a Prestwood pub were deferred by the council this week amid concerns over the impact the development would have on the site and the fate of neighbouring trees.

Proposals to demolish a garage next to the Green Man in the High Street and build a pair of semi-detached homes were presented to Chiltern District Council’s planning committee on Thursday (July 12).

This is the second time the plans were hauled in front of the committee – as previous proposals were thrown after fears were raised that the two homes would make the site “cramped”.

Objector, Gary Wyatt, who lives next to the pub, said the plans are “substantially the same” as the rejected application, apart from a few “cosmetic differences”.

He added the narrow access road, which already serves two houses, is too small to cope with the additional traffic – and emergency vehicles would struggle to enter the site.

He said: “The drive simply cannot be widened. Both myself and my wife are retired, our next door neighbours, they are in their mid-eighties, one is on a mobility scooter and the other has ambulances there pretty much all the time.

“It’s very difficult to actually envisage more traffic coming up this drive.

“If you have four extra cars and potentially visitors, I think it will be dangerous. If you do have visitors, where are they going to park? On the driveway and block us?”

Councillor for Prestwood and Heath End, John Gladwin, called for the plans to be rejected as there had not been enough changes made to the rejected application.

He also raised concerns the trees next to the pub will be cut back to make way for the development.

However, Jeremy Heppel, from the applicant Punch Taverns, insisted the trees will be retained and added there is “no legitimate highways objection” in relation to the access road.

He said: “All the trees on the site are now to be retained, even though as our officer report notes they are not of particularly high quality.

“We have moved the houses further away from the trees, to ensure future residents will not be over shadowed.

“[The driveway] has not been objected to by a highways engineer, and it was not objected to by an inspector.

“The project proposals meet the parking standards in your plan, so we don’t believe there is a legitimate highways objection in this case.”

Chairman of the committee, Don Phillips, propose councillors defer the application so Punch Taverns can consider altering the location and dimensions of the property.

Councillors deferred plans.