Preparations for a neighbourhood plan have begun in Longwick after an application to Wycombe District Council was approved.

A steering group has been set up to start preparing a plan after the District Council granted permission for the entire parish to be designated as a Neighbourhood Area.

Designating a parish as a Neighbourhood Area allows the community to decide where new housing developments should go, giving the Parish Council and residents more say over how they would like to see the parish develop in the future. 

Councillors Val McPherson, Sally Whitworth and Brian Richards, along with Janet Marsh, Graham Bucknell and Tony Bravery have begun the process of creating a plan by outlining their visions and objectives, meeting with stakeholders and recommending possible sites for development to the Parish Council.

A draft plan is due to be considered by the Parish Council on May 19.

In the meantime, an email address to deal with questions and comments about the plan has been set up and residents can submit their thoughts on the plan to lciparishnp@gmail.com.

A presentation on the latest developments will be given at the Annual Parish Meeting on April 21 and a stall is being planned for the Annual Fete on May 2, before a referendum will be held to decide whether or not to adopt the plan.