Winslow Neighbourhood Plan

Winslow was one of the first communities in England to prepare a Neighbourhood Plan, and our first Plan was "made" (took effect) in September 2014. It was supported by more than 98% of votes cast at a local referendum which had a turnout of almost 60%. A copy of that plan can be found here.

Work to update and modify the Neighbourhood Plan began in early 2021 and, following extensive consultations, a draft modified Neighbourhood Plan was prepared for consideration at a referendum which Buckinghamshire Council (as Local Planning Authority) held on Thursday 16 March 2023. The majority of those who voted cast their vote in favour of the Plan, with 476 voting YES and 200 voting NO Buckinghamshire Council will now formally 'make' the Plan a part of the area's Development Plan.

A Neighbourhood Plan is the most local component of the area's Development Plan which steers planning decisions that affect the town. The Neighbourhood Plan is required to deliver the strategic policies set out in the area's Local Plan. Since September 2021 this is the Vale of Aylesbury Local Plan 2013-2033 (VALP). More information about VALP can be found on this part of the Buckinghamshire Council web site.

Revising the Neighbourhood Plan in 2021/23

VALP has set the framework for updating Winslow's Neighbourhood Plan during 2021/23. In particular VALP sets a target for additional housing in Winslow to be located on land which it has allocated for this purpose to the east of Great Horwood Road. At the same time the modified Neighbourhood Plan will need to accommodate Buckinghamshire Council's (BC) latest proposals for a Sports Hub, along with a business park, on land at Redfield. And once the sports facilities are relocated from the former Winslow Centre and Rugby Field sites, BC also has revised plans for development of this vacant "brownfield" site within the town. To support the town's community the Town Council has plans for the area which it refers to as the Heart of Winslow – with improvements to the existing Public Hall, and (in the longer term) possibly a new Community and Sports Club building to provide an additional small function room and a social space as well as a replacement of changing rooms and other facilities in the current sports club building.

Initial consultations - February to April 2021

An initial consultation with residents, businesses and others who have an interest in the town took place between February and 6 April 2021 following Covid-secure procedures, with the ideas for the modified Neighbourhood Plan being set out in more detail in a leaflet "A Plan for Winslow to 2033". The text of this can be found here in large-text format.

More than 250 responses were received to this initial consultation (including some received after the deadline which were also taken into account). These responses contain well over 1000 individual comments, many of which raised multiple issues. The analysis of all the responses can be found in the Report of the initial consultation. This has fed into the preparation of the draft modified Neighbourhood Plan.

Pre-submission consultation on revised Neighbourhood Plan

The draft modified Neighbourhood Plan was the subject of a further formal consultation with local residents, businesses and others with an interest in the town, that ran from 10 January to 28 February 2022. This is known as the Regulation 14 or pre-submission consultation. A consultation booklet was circulated house-to-house and to other consultees in early January. Documents supporting this consultation are listed below and can still be downloaded using the links on this page.

What has happened after the pre-submission consultation?

Feedback from the pre-submission consultation (which is documented in the Consultation Statement) has been taken into account in preparing a final draft of the Plan which was submitted on 10 May 2022 to Buckinghamshire Council (BC) for examination. After a statutory consultation period BC appointed a professional Examiner to review the Plan and consider any representations submitted during its consultation. The Examiner considered that the revisions significantly change the nature of the then current Plan, and therefore advised BC that a local referendum must be held to test the acceptability of the plan to the local community. The Examiner also required some relatively minor changes to the wording of certain policies, which have been incorporated in the 'referendum version' of the Plan. BC arranged for the referendum to take place on Thursday 16 March, and the majority of votes cast were YES in favour of the Plan, so BC will now "make" the Plan a part of the area's Development Plan, alongside VALP.

The six documents submitted to Buckinghamshire Council in May 2022 can be found through the following links :

Winslow needs green space - petition and response

A petition was submitted in response to the pre-submission consultation, focusing on the issue of green space requirements and a wish for the Rugby Field to be designated as open space rather than for additional housing.

Details of this petition and the response to it from the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group can be found in the Consultation Statement, or at

Last updated: Fri, 17 Mar 2023 08:42