The NHS has objected to the plans to partially demolish the Chilterns Shopping Centre in High Wycombe and build 303 new flats.

The Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and West Berkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) said Dandara Living’s plans did not adequately respond to the anticipated extra demand on ‘primary care’ health services from the occupants of the new apartments.

Primary care is sometimes known as the ‘front door of the NHS’ and includes GP, community pharmacy, dental, and optometry services.

On Monday, Buckinghamshire Council published a letter of objection to the Chilterns redevelopment it received from the NHS board’s primary care manager Darren Wakefield.

He wrote: “In the absence of any primary care mitigations in this application the ICB raises an objection to the proposed development.

“The ICB would like to meet with the council and the applicant to discuss any feasible primary care mitigation in this application.”

The health official said the ICB’s new letter superseded its previous submission to the council about the plans in December 2023 in which it warned of the pressures on local services caused by hundreds more people moving into Wycombe town centre.

In that previous representation, the ICB said that as a result of the new flats, it anticipated an increase in population of approximately 758 new patients, ‘who will require care from GP practices in surrounding areas’.

The health board said it would seek money from the developer to support local health service infrastructure, which in planning is known as ‘Section 106 contributions’.