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Locals in a leafy English village have launched a last-ditch crowdfunder to raise the ‘£10million’ needed to save one of the last green spaces in their area.
Villagers in Hazlemere and nearby Holmer Green, in Buckinghamshire, banded together to fight developers – who have already started digging up the land around the field in question, called Tralee Farm, which used to be green belt.
Hawridge Strategic Land Limited received permission from Buckinghamshire Council in August 2024 to put 87 homes on the site.
However, Hawridge has now put the four-hectare site up for sale. Bids have to be made by noon on February 14, but residents are hoping their hard work will pay off.
Speaking to MailOnline, people living beside the site said they would never have bought their homes if they knew the council would let house builders buy up the countryside around them.
They said their homes had been devalued by £100,000 and neighbouring developments had already destroyed wildlife.
Now they are trying to raise enough money to save the last morsel of land from property developers.
Local mother-of-three Susan Jamson, 74, said: ‘This is disgusting. It’s green fields and horses. The prices of all our properties have gone down.
This stunning green field has become the centre of a planning row after intervention from a group of NIMBYs
Locals have banded together to buy the field, which Hawridge Strategic Land Limited received permission to build 87 homes on
Mother-of-three Susan Jamson (right) and her neighbour Penny Harris (left) have dubbed the move ‘disgusting’
‘We bought the house because green belt was never to be built on. We wouldn’t have bought it [if we had known this would happen].
‘We understand that they need houses but first of all they should build on brownfield.
‘If they are going to build on greenbelt, don’t put an Army-style barracks against our fence.’
She said the council downgraded the land from greenbelt in 2019.
Villagers in Hazlemere and nearby Holmer Green, in Buckinghamshire, have teamed up to take on developers
Susan said: ‘We bought the house because green belt was never to be built on. We wouldn’t have bought it [if we had known this would happen]’
Penny’s home used to look out on this gorgeous green field where horses roamed
Now her beautiful terrace looks out on this horrid view of dirt piles and building preparations
Her kitchen – which has four glass doors to show off the view – now looks out on this landscape
The field next to her home is now a scene of desolation with mounds of huge soil and deep holes where developers have started preparing to build
The field is a mess of flooded gulleys, mud and mounds of soil – which spoil Penny’s view
Now, they are facing a strain on local services as the villages of Hazlemere and Holmer Green grow ever closer.
She added: ‘Both sites are in Hazlemere but to get onto Tralee Farm, you have to go through Holmer Green.
‘Holmer Green is a separate village and that’s the idea of green belt, that it stops urban sprawl.’
When she realised the land was up for grabs, she said the community said, ‘Wow, we wonder if we can buy it.’
Residents in the area have set up a crowdfunder to raise £10million to but the field. Currently they have raised £700
Standing in front of Tralee Farm, the field where developers could build next, Susan said: ‘If they are going to build on greenbelt, don’t put an Army-style barracks against our fence’
Susan’s neighbour Penny Harris, 56, lives a few doors down. Her garden terrace looks out on the next field along from Tralee Farm.
In this field, property developer Bellway Homes has already started digging.
Instead of the rolling green hills of the Buckinghamshire countryside, her view is now one of desolation and destruction.
She told MailOnline: ‘This was a field with trees on it. It was beautiful.
‘That’s why we bought this place. It didn’t have much of a garden but we thought, ”Well it’s nice to look out on”.
‘I did a search on the land and it came back and said nothing was going to be built.
‘I’d only just moved here [when it started].’
Now, the stunning green field beside her house has been dug up into mounds of soil and vast, ugly pits.
Last year, there was a toxic fire that burned for around a month and then for the first time ‘in decades’, her neighbours flooded.
Pictured: The two disgruntled locals overlooking the mounds of soil near their properties
The stunning green field is one of the last remaining green spaces in view of their homes
Pictured: The plumes of smoke from a toxic fire that burned for around a month
They blamed the development, which has ripped away much of the trees and wildlife in the area.
Penny said Bellway Homes ‘started digging right outside next to my window, four feet away when my grandson was playing outside’.
She said what confused her most was that the roads were so poor that the traffic would be impossible in the mornings.
Another of her neighbours added: ‘The properties will be in Hazlemere but they will use the facilities of Holmer Green.
‘Everything is bursting at the seams. People fear there’s going to be all these new houses and there’s not going to be any schools or road provisions.
‘People have got to have somewhere to live but it’s the sheer density that people are so cross about.
‘They’re going to have traffic going up and down the back of their gardens.’
Independent Buckinghamshire Councillor Ed Gemmell, 57, has taken the lead on organising the group trying to buy Tralee Farm to preserve one of the last remaining green spaces in the area.
He told MailOnline: ‘It’s appalling. We are scared. That’s why we’re trying to buy it.
‘They’re trashing ex-green belt and not even putting in what people want locally.
‘Locals said they don’t want bigger and bigger houses, they want houses to downsize.
Councillor Ed Gemmell (pictured) is leading a group of residents trying to buy Tralee Farm
‘We understand that they need houses but first of all they should build on brownfield,’ Susan said. Pictured: Susan Jamson (left) and Penny Harris (right)
One resident said: ‘Everything is bursting at the seams. People fear there’s going to be all these new houses and there’s not going to be any schools or road provisions’
‘We know we’re up against it in terms of time and money.
‘The likely price is £10million. That’s a lot of money for a community group to put together in a short space of time but we’re going to have a go at it.
‘That means finding high net worth investors who want to support us, potentially more environmentally-friendly developers.
‘Let’s see if we can get in there, buy it and save the green space.
‘If we have to build on it, let’s build something that fits more with the aspirations of the local community and the future that’s coming down the path.’
Hawridge Land, which owns Tralee Farm, indicated it wouldn’t sell to residents even if they find enough money.
The company said: ‘We are seeking a delivery partner; they have no money and no track record of delivering a site of this scale and complexity.’
It added: ‘It is concerning that a local NIMBY group who have previously campaigned against this development with no track record, no financial backing, and no development expertise is attempting to derail a much-needed housing scheme under the guise of a speculative purchase bid.
‘This is not a serious proposition; it is a shameful attempt to obstruct a fully approved development that will deliver real benefits to local people in desperate need of housing.
‘Tralee Farm is a strategically important site that has been granted planning permission for 87 new homes, with 48 per cent designated as affordable housing.
‘At a time of severe housing shortages, this development represents a significant opportunity to provide high-quality homes alongside essential infrastructure contributions.
‘Without credible investment and the necessary development expertise, the only outcome of this group’s actions would be unnecessary delays and continued failure to meet local housing needs.
‘Hawridge Land is actively engaging via our advisors Prime Plots, with serious, well-funded delivery partners who has the capability and commitment to work with us to bring this scheme to fruition.
‘Our focus will remain on delivering homes for local people.’
A spokesman for Bellway Homes said: ‘Bellway is looking forward to delivering a range of houses that will appeal to first-time buyers, families, and professionals working in the area or commuting to Maidenhead, Heathrow and London.
‘The development is being delivered in line with the approved planning consent.’
Buckinghamshire Council did not respond to a request for comment.
- You can view locals’ GoFundMe page here: https://gofund.me/cf7a2bd6
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