BROWN NOT GREEN
Has been campaigning for over 10 years to protect the Green Belt around Chesham. Until now the focus has been on the fields NE of the town near Lye Green. However, whilst we have been successful so far, Chesham residents may not yet be aware of the scale of housing development now being considered around our town as part of the emerging new Buckinghamshire local plan.
The Councils inclusion of many Green Belt sites around Chesham including some being provisionally redesignated as “Grey Belt” and therefore being considered for development, created considerable public reaction on social media against such suggestions.
BNG were further concerned that none of the 15 brownfield sites previously identified by Chesham Renaissance for housing development were included in that exercise (most being in the ownership of the Local Authority) and likewise there were other brownfield sites previously advocated by BNG for housing development were not considered either.
BNG and other community groups that we are collaborating with, hope to convene a Public Meeting in Chesham Town Hall on Saturday 9 May at 2.30pm to explain what the threat is and what we are trying to do.
We need your help to raise awareness on your personal social media channels and through word of mouth as ultimately we need to raise funds for the professional work needed to submit a robust alternative for what we fear might be coming.
With c. 95,000 new homes being suggested as the housing target for the County before 2040, local residents groups are fearful of the impact upon the town arising from any misguided strategy over the quantum of housing that Chesham can accommodate or where such housing should be located.
We are not saying we don’t want any development in our town but its topography, congested roads, aged infrastructure and proxim
ity to Chiltern National Landscape and the globally scarce chalk stream river, means that development around Chesham must be very carefully planned. Simply rolling back Green Belt has profound impacts for the future of our town and local wildlife.
Chesham is unusual in having several community groups who recognise that Chesham does need to provide additional housing but that it must be sustainable and affordable and these groups are collectively now trying to find a positive alternative solution that is both justifiable and minimises the impact on this historic town whilst making best use of brownfield opportunities and also reducing development in the Green Belt and the loss of good quality agricultural land.
These community groups include Brown not Green (BNG), Chesham Renaissance Community Interest Company (CRCIC), The Chesham Society, & the Chiltern Society. Collectively, we are now trying to involve Chesham Town Council too in preparations for presenting an alternative strategy for our town.
We need to start work on this now as following the informal sites engagement survey, undertaken by Buckinghamshire Council in March as part of their Regulation 18 stage of Local Plan-making, we anticipate Bucks Council’s Regulation 19 Deposit Draft may emerge in July. We will then have only a short window of time to prepare, so work must start now.
The work will involve commissioning professional Housing Needs Assessments for the town and also carefully appraising the overlooked brownfield alternates and undertaking expert Viability Assessments for all these sites to demonstrate that development of these brownfield alternatives is practical and deliverable.
This costs money and ultimately our collaborative groups will be fundraising to meet the costs of the above professional work and the representation that will need to be submitted at the forthcoming Regulation 19 consultation and any subsequent Public Hearing Examinations before independent Planning Inspectors later.
BNG wish to be active participants in this collaborative effort and so we urge you to attend and raise awareness of the Public Meeting in Chesham Town Hall on Saturday 9 May at 2.30 pm and then to consider how you might help BNG.
BNG needs volunteers as many of our original team have devoted nearly 11 years to this cause and “natural wastage” or changing personal circumstances means the BNG Organising Committee of BNG is now somewhat depleted. Obviously anyone with knowledge of town planning, including surveyors, architects, highways engineers etc.. are particularly useful but given the fundraising and communications tasks that lay ahead, we also need anyone with skills in:
Please get in touch if you can help and please share this message with others.
Has been campaigning for over 10 years to protect the Green Belt around Chesham. Until now the focus has been on the fields NE of the town near Lye Green. However, whilst we have been successful so far, Chesham residents may not yet be aware of the scale of housing development now being considered around our town as part of the emerging new Buckinghamshire local plan.
The Councils inclusion of many Green Belt sites around Chesham including some being provisionally redesignated as “Grey Belt” and therefore being considered for development, created considerable public reaction on social media against such suggestions.
BNG were further concerned that none of the 15 brownfield sites previously identified by Chesham Renaissance for housing development were included in that exercise (most being in the ownership of the Local Authority) and likewise there were other brownfield sites previously advocated by BNG for housing development were not considered either.
BNG and other community groups that we are collaborating with, hope to convene a Public Meeting in Chesham Town Hall on Saturday 9 May at 2.30pm to explain what the threat is and what we are trying to do.
We need your help to raise awareness on your personal social media channels and through word of mouth as ultimately we need to raise funds for the professional work needed to submit a robust alternative for what we fear might be coming.
With c. 95,000 new homes being suggested as the housing target for the County before 2040, local residents groups are fearful of the impact upon the town arising from any misguided strategy over the quantum of housing that Chesham can accommodate or where such housing should be located.
We are not saying we don’t want any development in our town but its topography, congested roads, aged infrastructure and proxim
ity to Chiltern National Landscape and the globally scarce chalk stream river, means that development around Chesham must be very carefully planned. Simply rolling back Green Belt has profound impacts for the future of our town and local wildlife.
Chesham is unusual in having several community groups who recognise that Chesham does need to provide additional housing but that it must be sustainable and affordable and these groups are collectively now trying to find a positive alternative solution that is both justifiable and minimises the impact on this historic town whilst making best use of brownfield opportunities and also reducing development in the Green Belt and the loss of good quality agricultural land.
These community groups include Brown not Green (BNG), Chesham Renaissance Community Interest Company (CRCIC), The Chesham Society, & the Chiltern Society. Collectively, we are now trying to involve Chesham Town Council too in preparations for presenting an alternative strategy for our town.
We need to start work on this now as following the informal sites engagement survey, undertaken by Buckinghamshire Council in March as part of their Regulation 18 stage of Local Plan-making, we anticipate Bucks Council’s Regulation 19 Deposit Draft may emerge in July. We will then have only a short window of time to prepare, so work must start now.
The work will involve commissioning professional Housing Needs Assessments for the town and also carefully appraising the overlooked brownfield alternates and undertaking expert Viability Assessments for all these sites to demonstrate that development of these brownfield alternatives is practical and deliverable.
This costs money and ultimately our collaborative groups will be fundraising to meet the costs of the above professional work and the representation that will need to be submitted at the forthcoming Regulation 19 consultation and any subsequent Public Hearing Examinations before independent Planning Inspectors later.
BNG wish to be active participants in this collaborative effort and so we urge you to attend and raise awareness of the Public Meeting in Chesham Town Hall on Saturday 9 May at 2.30 pm and then to consider how you might help BNG.
BNG needs volunteers as many of our original team have devoted nearly 11 years to this cause and “natural wastage” or changing personal circumstances means the BNG Organising Committee of BNG is now somewhat depleted. Obviously anyone with knowledge of town planning, including surveyors, architects, highways engineers etc.. are particularly useful but given the fundraising and communications tasks that lay ahead, we also need anyone with skills in:
- Website or social media management
- Fundraising
- PR & communications
Please get in touch if you can help and please share this message with others.
