THE plans to build almost 1,000 homes put forward by an epilepsy charity on Buckinghamshire Green Belt land have been met with dozens of objections.  

Revealed last week, plans by the Bucks-based national Epilepsy Society propose to build 975 homes, including affordable homes and retirement accommodation, a new primary school and a research centre in Chalfont St Peter.

The charity, which promotes awareness and treatment of epilepsy through cutting-edge research, hopes to use money from the development to secure the charity’s future and financial situation, which is currently unstable.

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Andy James, CFO at the Epilepsy Society, said: “We have been in Chalfont St Peter for 130 years and want to be here for another 130 years more.

"It is in our interests to make sure that any development is sympathetic to the surrounding environment and will enhance the life of the village.

"But the sad fact is that if we cannot realise the wealth in our land, we will have no option other than to close the site, towards the end of the decade, with the loss of services and the homes of 93 disabled residents. And of course, the site would most likely be sold to a developer.”

In one week, the planning application submitted to Buckinghamshire Council has attracted around 80 objections.

Neighbour of the site Dr Don Horrocks said: “We are still regretting the previous unwelcome development on this rural site and now there are plans for even more development which will further negatively impact a beautiful part of the country already blighted by HS2 and other planning applications spreading out from the M25.

“This is greenbelt land surrounded by narrow lanes and which serves as an important local amenity for walking and outdoor exercise. It should be kept sacrosanct."

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The roads around Chalfont St Peter were 'already so busy', booking with a GP was difficult and the sewage system failing during rain, said Maria Valkova.

“Please consider wild life – this is part of the Green belt land all the trees, bushes, hedges that will go down.” she added.

Councillor Isobel Darby opposed the 'significant development on Green Belt land', saying it would have 'far reaching effects on the existing community' for traffic and services.

While Dr Bhav Kotecha acknowledged the importance of the Centre for Epilepsy, he didn’t think the many hundreds of homes were in line with the area. 

He suggested: “A significantly more modest development, without such a devastating impact on the local area and infrastructure, could achieve the aims of the Centre for Epilepsy without damaging irreversibly the surrounding area.”

Andy James from Epilepsy Society said: “We own 300-acres of land in Chalfont St Peter, land that was bequeathed to us for the benefit of people with epilepsy.

"As a charity we have a duty to make the best use of our assets, and maintaining a sprawling site with dilapidated buildings and leaking pipes, is not good use. We need to convert the wealth in our land into research that will bring hope of a seizure free life to the 600,000 people with epilepsy across the UK.

“We only want to develop 40 percent of our land and are very conscious of the need to preserve and create green open spaces for the local community. We have also taken into account the need for new facilities including a primary school and shops."