Members of the Beaconsfield Society joined together with local residents at an information evening at St Mary’s Church in Beaconsfield, discussing controversial plans to build on green belt land.

Residents have been campaigning against the proposals, claiming that the potential development is already “causing distress” to Beaconsfield residents.

Representatives of the group have also claimed that the plans, which are aimed at coping with forecasted growth in the town, cannot be accurate as “it is not possible to accurately forecast migration to the town and the economic growth in the coming years”.

Alison Wheelhouse, Chairman of the Beaconsfield Society, said: “This plan is premature, in that it forces unsustainable development on the Green Belt which next year’s Buckinghamshire Unitary Authority could address with less devastating impact.

“The need for new housing in the coming decades will primarily be on the Oxford-Cambridge axis to the North, not in South Bucks. It inflicts gridlock congestion on Beaconsfield by building houses we don’t need on Green Belt that we do.

“It is a plan that will generate huge profits for developers while doing nothing to address the issues of affordability of housing for low paid workers. It must be rejected.”

Geoffrey Gudgion, a Beaconsfield Society Committee member, told the meeting: “The Council plan to build more homes than are needed explicitly to drive down house prices, putting their largest development on Beaconsfield’s doorstep, and lifting Green Belt planning constraints on surrounding villages like Jordans and Penn.

“If they publish this plan, then their last act before they’re dissolved into the Unitary will have been to defecate on their own electorate.”

A spokesperson from the Chiltern and South Bucks District Councils said: “This is a Local Plan that positively provides for meeting our community’s needs, now and for future generations, improving quality of life and opportunities, and will put in place necessary infrastructure to support development whilst also protecting our valued environment and the character of our towns and villages.

“Local residents, local groups, businesses, partner organisations, landowners and developers have all contributed to the preparation of the Plan, for which we are very grateful.

“We consider this draft Local Plan to be sound, evidence-based and able to deliver in a sustainable way the necessary homes our communities need.

“It’s important that we have a Local Plan as not having one leaves the area vulnerable to speculative planning applications.

“If agreed by Full Councils at both Chiltern and South Bucks next week, a six-week public consultation on the Local Plan will begin in June 2019. This is the opportunity for people to have their say on matters they consider are ‘unsound’ in relation to the plan.

“Following the six-week consultation, the Local Plan and the consultation representations will be submitted to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government.

“The Secretary of State will appoint an independent Planning Inspector who will consider the Local Plan and the representations for soundness.”