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Search the Public Notice PortalHigh Wycombe has been “let down” and placed at a “distinct disadvantage” over Buckinghamshire’s emerging Local Plan, councillors have claimed.
Members of High Wycombe Town Committee launched a blistering attack on the document amid anger that the committee could not submit a collective response to the consultation.
The draft plan will shape development across Buckinghamshire for around 20 years.
Councillors agreed almost unanimously to add an urgent discussion after the issue was left off the published agenda.
Cllr Chris Chilton described the Local Plan as “probably the most important thing” the council would decide during its four-year term.
He claimed High Wycombe had been disadvantaged because other major towns with town councils had employed professional planners to prepare representations on their behalf.
High Wycombe’s unparished area instead has a town committee made up of Buckinghamshire councillors.
Cllr Chilton said: “There are some fantastic representations there which have been written by real professionals.
“We are at a distinct disadvantage versus those councils because we have relied on amateurs like me.
“I have probably spent 40 or 50 hours over the course of the last two months writing representations. I’m not a planning professional.”
He added: “We are at a distinct disadvantage because of our constitutional position, and I think that is unfair.”
The council’s monitoring officer had advised that High Wycombe Town Committee should not respond formally to the consultation because it forms part of Buckinghamshire Council.
Members were permitted to submit individual responses, while the committee could make recommendations to the Cabinet.
Cllr Julia Wassell said members had been left to “scramble about” without the professional advice available to other areas.
She added: “I think we’ve really let down Wycombe residents here by not finding some kind of means.”
Cllr Hazel Arthur-Hewitt said the situation highlighted how the consultation could work with town and parish councils but not “one of the largest towns in Bucks”.
She also raised concerns about proposed parking standards for new developments, as well as the level and type of affordable housing planned.
Committee chairman Cllr Ed Gemmell said he was “absolutely disgusted” by the treatment of High Wycombe in the draft plan.
He claimed Aylesbury was presented as the county’s premier town despite High Wycombe being Buckinghamshire’s largest town and having its biggest commercial centre and the most jobs.
Cllr Gemmell said: “It was absolutely appalling. We were just another town effectively.”
Cllr Trevor Snaith said the committee was dissatisfied with the emerging Local Plan and its proposed impact on High Wycombe.
Cllr Gemmell said the committee’s displeasure would be passed to Buckinghamshire Council and its Cabinet.
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