The NEP actively engages with local planning issues as well as with regional, national or infrastructure planning issues and other consultations that affect Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes and which relates to our priorities for the environment in the NEP area.
In April 2025, the NEP responded to the Government’s proposed Land Use consultation. You can find our response here:
Milton Keynes is currently putting together its new Local Plan – MK City Plan 2050 – to set out how Milton Keynes will grow and change in the years ahead and to guide where future development should happen, and where it shouldn’t, to protect our environment. Read the NEP’s formal response to the latest iteration of the Plan here: MKCC Local Plan consultation – high-level response NEP Oct 24 FINAL
Response to the Government’s National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) consultation (September 2024)
The NEP submitted a coordinated response to the latest NPPF consultation from the partnership, based on partner input, liaison with other LNPs, and taking into account the NEP’s key strategies and major areas of work and interest. We responded to the specific questions as well as made several key points and with the response we, among other things, called for: better protection for chalk streams, stronger action to clean up our watercourses, the need to support the delivery (not just production) of Local Nature Recovery Strategies, and secure the funding needed for Local Nature Partnerships to enable that delivery, stronger recognition of the need for connecting people and nature via development to manage green space long-term, and strengthened protection for local wildlife sites. See our response here: Sep 24 consultation response – BucksMKNEP response FINAL (230924)
Buckinghamshire Council is currently working on a new Buckinghamshire Local Plan. Buckinghamshire Council’s information about the process can be found here.
The NEP will be engaged and responding to consultations throughout the preparation period on behalf of our partnership. Our latest responses are listed below:
NEP response to the Buckinghamshire Local Plan Visions and Objectives consultation May 2023
During 2015-18, the NEP engaged with all of our Local Authority partners to suggest appropriate content in their Local Plans, particularly related to biodiversity and green infrastructure.
We created and sent a “standard checklist response” to all local authorities across Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes at the Issues and Options stage of their Local Plans. This set out the NEP’s expectations for Green Infrastructure, Biodiversity, Water, Energy and Business.
Standard NEP Checklist Response to Local PlansWe then worked with each Local Authority separately and provided bespoke requests and engagement to encourage the best possible outcome for the environment of Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes in local planning, aligned to the NEP’s priorities, strategies and work – including the NEP’s Biodiversity Action Plan, Energy Strategy and (more recently) the NEP’s Vision and Principles for the Improvement of Green Infrastructure and evolving work on biodiversity accounting. We have also provided bespoke written statements and attended relevant hearings related to the 2018 Inspector examination processes for draft Local Plans in Milton Keynes, Aylesbury Vale and Wycombe.
We have also recently been involved with other local environmental stakeholders in engaging with the Aylesbury Garden Town discussions.
In December 2024, the Government launched a Working Paper proposing a new approach to how housing and infrastructure development could meet environmental obligations and contribute to nature recovery. Proposals included pooling individual contributions from developers into a “Nature Restoration Fund” to deliver strategic interventions to drive nature recovery.
While not a formal consultation, the NEP provided the following response:
Planning Reform Working paper – response from the Bucks&MK NEP
Our response draws attention to the potential roles for Local Nature Partnerships in developing the “Delivery Plans” for environmental improvements at scale, and in facilitating the delivery of the Nature Restoration Funding. We also call for the need to maintain existing protections for habitats and species, continue to operate the full sequence of the mitigation hierarchy, ensure compensation is close (in time and space) in relation to any negative consequences of development, to clarify how impacts of the Fund will be monitored, and specify how the proposals relate to Local Nature Recovery Strategies and the devolution proposals also launched in December 2024.
Taking the experience from the NEP’s steering group role in the Buckinghamshire Pilot LNRS work, the NEP responded to the Government’s consultation on “how to prepare and what to include” in upcoming Local Nature Recovery Strategies. We responded to the specific questions as well as made several key points – including the need for sufficient resourcing (capacity, skills, funding, timescales), ensuring data availability, the need for cross-border working and policy integration for delivering LNRSs, and highlighting the important contribution and role of Local Nature Partnerships in supporting the production of the strategies, coordinating their delivery and monitoring their impact.
Download the NEP's response to the LNRS Consultation .
The NEP has also responded formally to the Buckinghamshire LNRS pilot, click here for more information.
The NEP’s response centred on the need for any Vision for the OxCam Arc to embed the agreed Growth Arc Environmental Principles (prepared by the Arc Environment Working Group and endorsed by the Arc Leaders, Universities and LEPs) to help achieve the ambitions and aspirational vision suggested in the consultation. The NEP suggested that these principles should form the basis of the vision and should be used to shape broader plans for the Arc including any Spatial Strategy. We also commented on the related Sustainability Appraisal scoping document.
Download the NEP's Response to the OxCam Growth Arc Spatial Framework consultation .
The NEP has responded formally to the following consultations:
In December 2018 we responded to EWR’s Further Environmental Information on the Network Rail East West Rail Transport for Works Act Order. We objected on the grounds that powers to ensure net biodiversity gain were not being sought by the Order despite an overall predicted project loss in biodiversity on all route section, and national policy requirements for net biodiversity gains.
The NEP will continue to respond to relevant consultations and work with our Local Authority Partners to encourage alignment to the NEP’s strategic aims for the environment of Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes.
