Authority Monitoring Report 2020 to 2021

1. Key highlights

1.1 Development plan preparation and progress

We are required by legislation to have a new Buckinghamshire-wide Local Plan in place by April 2025. This local plan will cover the whole of the Buckinghamshire Council area, for the period up to 2040.

We have made progress on a number of specific tasks including a Call for Brownfield Sites and ‘Discovery and Exploration’ Engagement.

1.2 Neighbourhood plans

A total of 64 parishes (40% of parishes in Buckinghamshire) have a designated neighbourhood area.

There are currently 30 made Neighbourhood Development Plans (NDP) in Buckinghamshire. The latest plans to be made (adopted) are:

  • Stewkley NDP (North Area) which was adopted on 2 December 2021
  • Denham NDP (South Area) which was adopted on 21 January 2022

34 parishes are currently preparing their first NDP, and 4 are reviewing their made plans.

1.3 Housing

The AMR must report on policies that specify an annual number of net additional dwellings or additional affordable dwellings within the Council area. This includes completions, demolitions and outstanding commitments.

  • The North and Central Areas completed 1357 (95%) dwellings against their annual target and has 8998 outstanding commitments not yet started or under construction. There were 325 affordable housing completions.
  • The East Area completed 147 (42%) dwellings against their annual target and has 1502 outstanding commitments not yet started or under construction. There were 16 affordable housing completions.
  • The South Area completed 121 (28%) dwellings against their annual target and has 1474 outstanding commitments not yet started or under construction. There were 14 affordable housing completions.
  • The West Area completed 357 (65%) dwellings against their annual target and has 2267 outstanding commitments not yet started or under construction. There were 47 affordable housing completions.

The Housing Delivery Test achieved 107% so no consequences are incurred.

1.4 Employment floorspace

The overall net changes in employment floorspace for the North and Central, East and South Areas have been monitored but due to data variations and the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, this data is not currently available for the West Area.

  • The North and Central Areas had a net change of 45,126 square meters
  • The East Area had a net change of -842 square meters
  • The South Area had a net change of -15,380 square meters