Beaconsfield Lib Dems working to protect more Green Spaces

Councillors push for more green spaces to be included in Beaconsfield Neighbourhood Plan

Your local Liberal Democrat councillors have been pushing to include more Local Green Spaces in the Beaconsfield neighbourhood plan. 

Liberal Democrats, alongside the independent councillor, suggested the list of Local Green Spaces in the draft  neighbourhood plan should be expanded in order to offer protection to more areas around our town. Unfortunately, the Conservative-controlled council decided to move ahead with the draft Neighbourhood Plan in its current form. 

Lib Dem councillor, Susanne Hardvendel subsequently proposed a motion to require the plan to be reviewed within two years in order to ensure the list of Local Green Spaces can be updated and amended as necessary. This important mechanism will allow the plan to become a “living” document and will hopefully allow it to adapt to changing pressures and threats to our Local Green Spaces.

As well as providing Local Green Space status to six named sites, the neighbourhood plan includes several other important policies. It will require all new builds to be zero-carbon buildings built to Passive House standard. This will significantly reduce heating bills for those houses, as well as reducing their environmental impact. It will also require buildings to preserve the architectural design character of Beaconsfield and give protection to 3 areas of special character to preserve their listed characteristics. 

Cllr Paul Henry said “The neighbourhood plan is an important document that will set out the vision for Beaconsfield for the foreseeable future. While I would have liked to have seen more areas listed as Local Green Spaces, having the ability to revise the plan within a reasonably short time frame will hopefully allow it to adapt as necessary.”

The draft plan will be presented to  Buckinghamshire Council before residents get an opportunity to vote on it later this year.