Residents in a quintessential UK village, complete with a church, village hall and a single shop, are up in arms over plans to build thousands of new homes on their doorstep. Villagers in Beachampton, north Buckinghamshire, who number just 113, chose the pretty region as their home for its idyllic countryside and sense of peace and quiet, compared to nearby Milton Keynes and Buckingham.
The landscape many have called home for decades could soon be transformed, however, under proposals to expand it to 8,000 homes to meet national housing targets. Alison Huizeling, a parish councillor who has lived in Beachampton for 10 years, said local concerns about the influx have been “ignored” by county representatives, who are determined to push through the required 90,000 new homes in the region by 2045 at any cost.
“It’s not just the aesthetic we’re worried about,” she told the Express. “It does feel as though our rural community is being taken away from us. But we also just don’t have the infrastructure to cope with thousands more homes.”
“Our sewers are not prepared,” Ms Huizeling added. “And we’re in a valley, so we already get water run-off from the surrounding farmland and solar developments. That’s only going to get worse.”
The parish councillor questioned whether Buckinghamshire Council has properly assessed its housing allocation sites, or simply alighted on green areas as prospective new towns and done no further examination.
“We weren’t consulted on this,” she said. “We don’t know anything – it could be starting next year or not until the 2040s. It’s been almost impossible to get a clear sense of what the plans are.”
Fundamentally, though, residents are alarmed at the prospect of their quiet village life being upended by thousands of newbuilds.
“We haven’t got a problem with living in cities and towns – some people want to do that,” Ms Huizeling said. “But we don’t, and that’s the reason we’re living here. We’ve got a small, good, tight-knit community, and we might lose that. To more people, more traffic, more noise and less wildlife.”
The Labour Government set a mandatory target of 1.5million homes to be delivered in England by 2029 after coming to power, equating to over 300,000 homes annually, divided among local authorities.
Speaking at the time, housing minister Angela Rayner said the ambition would “tackle the housing crisis” and “get Britain building again”. The targets have proved a sticking point with critics however, with councils and the Local Government Association (LGA) warning that they are “impossible” to achieve.
Buckinghamshire Council has been contacted for comment.