On 17th September, Buckinghamshire Council opened their public consultation on the draft local plan for Buckinghamshire.

The draft local plan is highly relevant for local business growth, given that it includes several objectives relevant for delivering infrastructure and utilities, new and expanded employment land, and connecting the workforce to employment sites. Key objectives in the local plan which support local businesses include: 

• Objective 6: Ensure infrastructure is delivered in the right place and time; support connectivity, flood mitigation, and utility provision. 
• Objective 7: Grow the economy by supporting key sectors, protecting employment land, and linking jobs with housing and transport. 
• Objective 8: Improve connectivity through strategic transport schemes, active travel, public transport, and digital access.

BBF fights for local business in consultation response 

Buckinghamshire Business First, representing the voice of businesses in the county, submitted a response to the draft local plan consultation, focusing on the Spatial Strategy for Employment, and development management policies for Economic Development and Infrastructure.

A summary of our responses on key areas is below:

• Economic Growth in Planning: Planned employment space may be insufficient to match housing growth. BBF calls for safeguards on commercial land, better-quality premises, and appropriate infrastructure. 
• Housing–Employment Balance: BBF urges policies that link housing and job sites, supported by transport networks. Recent employer departures highlight the need to retain and attract businesses. 
• Business Clusters & Innovation: BBF backs a distributed approach, but stresses investment in Enterprise Zones, business parks, and innovation hubs, using these to drive productivity and leverage existing infrastructure. 
• Infrastructure Delivery: BBF advocates ambitious standards for infrastructure, where viable, including digital connectivity (fixed & mobile), transport, and utilities to keep Buckinghamshire competitive. 
• Skills & Local Jobs: BBF warns against burdensome skills thresholds for small firms, recommending proportional requirements for large projects and collaboration with BBF and Bucks Skills Hub. 
• Rural Diversification & Tourism: BBF supports converting rural buildings for commercial use and calls for affordable staff housing in tourism developments. 
• Retail & Town Centres: BBF suggests flexible shop frontage policies and attention to deprived areas to boost inclusive growth and reduce vacancies.

Read our full consultation response here >

Learn more about the Local Plan for Buckinghamshire

Although the public consultation has now closed, you can still read more about it on the Buckinghamshire Council website.

The council plans to publish an updated version of the Local Plan for Buckinghamshire by July 2026 for final feedback.