Charities and campaigners have written to the secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities Michael Gove asking him to intervene over plans to build a new motorway services on green belt land in Buckinghamshire.
Buckinghamshire Council has approved plans for the Welcome Break motorway services on a council-owned green belt site near Iver Heath.
The site is legally protected by the Green Belt (London and Home Counties) Act 1938 and it is also protected in Iver Heath’s neighbourhood plan.
More than 200 local residents have written to Gove asking him to block the proposals for the site, highlighting the fact that the development sits on a flood plain and would ‘break the seal’ stopping London merging with Buckinghamshire.
Environmentalists are also concerned about the proposed destruction of around 1,500 trees and believe the plans could result in the closure of the Iver Environment Centre – a local charity that acts as a local ‘oasis’, providing education on nature and the environment to local children. The centre believes that the new motorway services would force them to close “due to noise and air pollution”, and are campaigning against the proposals.
Gove has already issued an Article 31 Direction – a notice that tells Buckinghamshire Council they cannot progress the plans until he decides whether to exercise his powers to ‘call in’ the scheme.
Councillor Wendy Matthews, a local representative for Iver Heath, said: “Our green belt gap is precious – it’s very narrow and is the only thing keeping our villages being swallowed up by London sprawl. Local residents are very upset that the council has ignored our neighbourhood plan and opened the door to the destruction of this important landscape.
“The motorway services plan would blight the local area, urbanising our countryside and harming the rural character of our village of Iver Heath. Over 200 local people have written to Mr Gove asking him to get involved and overturn this flawed proposal, and we’re hoping that as a supporter of the green belt and neighbourhood plans he’ll come to the right decision.”
