Agenda item

Questions to be submitted in advance of the meeting to WinVill@buckinghamshire.gov.uk, before 20^th April.

Q - When will the Great Horwood High Street be scheduled for resurfacing? 

 A - I would advise you to contact the Highways Department, as I know you have had previous communications with them, and they would be best placed to provide an answer as this doesn’t relate to a Community Board project. I do know that we have a new Highways Contactor and with that money is being invested in technology and tools so hopefully you will see the positive impact of this in the coming months.  

Q - We carried out a successful Litter Pick in the village on a very wet Sunday morning in March and as well as the litter which was collected on the following Tuesday by BC a large dump of tyres and other debris was found in a ditch in Nash Road (B4033) close to the roundabout with A421, This was registered on Fixmystreet but on Tuesday I got an email notification that the case had been closed. However when I reinspected the site the rubbish had not been cleared and was still in place as reported. So I would like to know if this is normal practice and if so this makes a mockery of the whole system. See second attached word document. 

A – Apologies for the confusion, the case was closed on the day the litter was cleared however following specialist arrangements the 126 tyres were cleared on April 21st.
The case should have been closed once all items of fly tipping were removed from the site, please accept our apology for the early administration error.  

Q - Given recent announcements that the government would no longer pursue a mandatory target of 300,000 new homes a year, what are the implications for the housing targets contained in the VALP and the housing targets that would be included in the new Buckinghamshire local plan.  

A - The answer to this one is the housing targets in the VALP (2021) remain part of the development plan until that plan is replaced, regardless of any Government announcements.

For the Wycombe area, the target will be that in the Adopted Wycombe District local plan (2019). In Chiltern and South Bucks areas there is no NPPF-compliant local plan in place, so the Government's Standard Method for Local Housing Need is used.

 There is no housing target yet for the new Local Plan for Buckinghamshire as it is at an early stage, options for what it should be informed by an evidence base and the national planning policy framework and will be consulted on in 2024 as part of the local plan process. There will be some information in a late 2023 consultation on the Local Plan for Buckinghamshire on the Government's Standard Method for Local Housing Need and an indication of the sort of housing growth level that is needed.

Q - Can we have an update on the likely/made changes to constituency boundaries for elections to Westminster & to Buckinghamshire Council and what are the implications for the community board areas. 

A - The Council won’t know the Commission’s final shape of the Council’s electoral boundaries until 30 May, when they are scheduled to publish them.  The new ward boundaries will come into effect in May 2025.    The Boundary Commission for England are currently analysing the feedback from their final consultation on Parliamentary Constituencies. Their final proposals for the South East are available to view via https://boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk/2023-review/south-east/ however these may differ from their eventual final recommendations due to be published at any time. Their final recommendations must be sent to Parliament by 1 July 2023. 

The Government must then prepare an order to implement the new constituencies for the whole UK. This must be within four months of the Government receiving the last report of the four Parliamentary Boundary Commissions for the UK (therefore the latest will be November 2023). The new constituencies will then take effect at the next general election thereafter.  

In summary, the Boundary Commission’s proposals for Buckinghamshire are for the following 6 parliamentary constituencies (currently there are 5). The Buckingham & Bletchley constituency covers both Buckinghamshire Council area and an area of Milton Keynes. 

There will be a consideration of the many governance implications over the next few months, including understanding how it may affect the Community Boards and whether changes are needed to them.