A building providing temporary accommodation for homeless people in Bucks on Greenbelt land has been granted a further five-year lease.

At a meeting of the South Buckinghamshire Area Planning Committee yesterday (June 27), councillors voted unanimously to approve an application seeking permission to use Walters Court on Bath Road in Burnham to provide temporary accommodation for homeless households for the next five years.

It was revealed at the meeting that the demand for temporary accommodation in Buckinghamshire has almost doubled in the last five years.

Councillors agreed that the considerations given to the site’s Greenbelt status remained the same as when the application had been considered initially ahead of its first five-year term and that it continued to be an acceptable use of protected land due to the demand for housing in the county.

There was some debate among councillors as to whether the building should be let for commercial rather than residential purposes, but Cllr David Anthony said he believed it was unlikely that the council would find a commercial tenant, adding that it was a “wise decision” to allocate the property for temporary accommodation purposes.

Cllr Guy Hollis said those currently living in temporary accommodation in the building, who he described as “some of the most vulnerable people in our society” would likely appreciate “some security and to know how things are going to go as soon as possible”.

Queries were raised by several councillors about the terms of the initial application, including a landscaping condition which was not met by the applicant, Mr Anwar Zaman on behalf of Buckinghamshire Council.

Cllr Michael Bracken said that the committee should make it clear that “temporary permissions with conditions are intended for those permissions to be met”.

Cllr Trevor Egleton said: “We need to make sure that in this next five-year period, we do carry out an assessment to make sure any conditions have been implemented and to look at whether the building is required for commercial need.

“We can then turn it into a permanent housing site. It is a site that is sitting there to be used and we are desperately in need of more housing in Southern Buckinghamshire.”