Wycombe's Local Plan has been scrutinised by an independent inspector and has been declared "sound" - as long as some small modifications are made.

The Local Plan is a key strategic document - required by law - which sets out the roadmap for development of the district up to 2033.

All of the main proposals that Wycombe District Council submitted for examination in the Local Plan remain unchanged, including a housing target for Wycombe District of 10,925 homes over the period 2013 to 2033, the major expansion of Princes Risborough and a number of sites allocated for housing or employment development - including some release of land from the Green Belt.

The Inspector, Nicola Gulley, has not recommended that any new sites for homes are allocated in the plan other than the ones listed.

The plan is the result of more than five years of work, including technical research and consultation with the public.

Mrs Gulley held a public examination into the proposed Local Plan - which included a string of public hearings in July and September last year - and members of the public took part and gave their views.

She has recommended a number of modifications to the Plan that the council will need to accept in order to formally adopt the Local Plan.

The council will discuss and adopt the plan on August 19.

Cllr David Johncock, cabinet member for planning at Wycombe District Council, said: "The new Local Plan has been a very long time in the making I would like to thank all the key stakeholders and local people who have responded to the consultations and who made representations at the public hearings. They perhaps don’t think so, but their contributions have helped to shape the final draft. That so few major changes have been proposed also demonstrates the professional manner in which our planning officers have undertaken this work.

"The next stage of the process is to have the Plan formally adopted by the council and this is planned for August 19.

"Assuming that the council does indeed adopt the Plan, it will mean that we all have a clear vision and a way forward to help us manage and deliver sustainable development in Wycombe district.

"It will mean that we can manage what is built where instead of being subjected to speculative developments which rarely puts housing where it is most appropriate and certainly contributes little to the infrastructure needs.

"I am conscious that preparing our new Local Plan has involved making some difficult decisions about where development goes which will directly affect many local communities.

"However, I strongly believe that we found a fair and objective compromise which has certainly stood up to detailed scrutiny.

"I am personally committed to ensuring that new development in our District is not only of a high quality and but also delivers the necessary infrastructure – that is what our Local Plan seeks to do and that’s what we now need to deliver."

The Plan will automatically be carried forward into the new Buckinghamshire Council when it is formed in April 2020.