Mr Steve Baker (Wycombe) (Con)

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The residents of Pine Trees in High Wycombe bought their homes on the basis that the council would adopt open spaces—indeed, they have supplied evidence that the council’s original intention was that a planning obligation should secure just that—but it has not happened. I am therefore pleased to have received a petition signed by three but accompanying a much longer petition signed by 524 residents.

The petition states:

The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urge the Government to legislate to ensure in future if planning is granted on particular conditions, and these are not carried through by a council, then that council is responsible for remediation and to ask the relevant Member to seek to broker a solution.

I will of course seek to broker a solution to this problem.

Following is the full text of the petition:

[The petition of residents of the constituency of Wycombe,

Declares that planning permission for Pine Trees was granted by the local authority (now Buckinghamshire Council) on the condition that the developer, Taylor Wimpey, paid a commuted sum to support the upkeep of the open spaces and play areas known as Bobcat Park, allowing for the local authority to adopt the park; notes that the local authority failed to include any mention of said commuted sum in the Section 106 planning conditions for the development; notes that the developer sold, and continued to sell, homes at Pine Trees on the basis that Bobcat Park would be adopted by the local authority and that residents would not need to pay anything towards upkeep of the park; notes that in connection with a separate planning condition, the developer has paid to the local authority more than £2 million for the creation of a bus link scheme which has since been abandoned, leaving funds available to support adoption of the park; and notes that in the absence of a commuted sum, the local authority has indicated its opposition to adopting the park, leaving the costs of maintenance to be borne by the residents at the development, conflicting directly with what they had been told.

The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urge the Government to legislate to ensure in future if planning is granted on particular conditions, and these are not carried through by a council, then that council is responsible for remediation and to ask the relevant Member to seek to broker a solution.

And the petitioners remain, etc.]

[P002698]