Developer Taylor Wimpey say it wants to build up to 800 homes in the Gomm Valley - eight months after it was revealed to be the new owner of the site when plans for a 1,000-home “green” village dramatically fell through.

Taylor Wimpey bought the 70-hectare High Wycombe site in May 2021 from Aviva Investors, which threw away years of work with developer Human Nature to build what was tipped to be one of the “greenest and most elegant” developments in England, featuring cafes, shops, homes, a school and community allotments.

Human Nature slammed Aviva at the time for backing out of their agreement and urged Aviva to “do the right thing” and hand the land over to the community to be kept as a wildlife haven instead – but the company sold the land to Taylor Wimpey.

Not much has been revealed about what Taylor Wimpey – which also built the Pine Trees estate on Daws Hill Lane – plans to do with the Gomm Valley, until now.

A “scoping” document submitted to Buckinghamshire Council reveals the developers want to build up to 800 homes on the site, along with a one-form entry primary school with nursery, community facilities, up to 1.4 hectares of employment land and play areas.

As part of the development, Taylor Wimpey would create new priority junctions off Cock Lane and Hammersley Lane and there would also be access by extending the existing cul-de-sac from Gomm Road into the site, and potentially an extension of Pimms Close, or a new pedestrian and cycle access off Pimms Grove into the site.

According to Taylor Wimpey’s website, it is “in the process of engaging with Buckinghamshire Council, key stakeholders and the local community to inform our plans for the site”.

The developer added: “Our proposals will seek to deliver a landscape-led approach to the delivery of market and affordable homes on the site, as well as a primary school and large areas of open space to be enjoyed by existing and future residents.”

It is alreadya inviting expressions of interest from people interested in living on the site, before a planning application has even been put together.

The Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) said any development on the Gomm Valley will have “major implications for biodiversity”, adding that there are significant areas that will need protecting.

The trust also urged Taylor Wimpey not to include plans for a road through the middle of the Gomm Valley Local Wildlife Site (LWS), saying it would lead to more wildlife dying on the road, would bring unwanted lighting and would increase the risk of littering, dog mess, fire, vandalism and trampling.

It added: “We would encourage that significant areas are left free from development and that development is located to the east side of the valley within any future proposal.”

The Chilterns Conservation Board said a “landscape-led approach” is needed on the site because it is a “wildlife corridor and green finger linking the AONB north of Wycombe to the AONB east of Wycombe”.

The Board added: “It is regrettable that the Gomm Valley was not included within the AONB when the boundary was reviewed in 1990. It remains of high landscape value and any development must be sympathetic to this high quality and the role of the land in the setting of the Chilterns AONB.”

You can view the scoping document on the Buckinghamshire Council planning portal using reference 21/08735/CONSU.