Buckinghamshire village of 113 may expand to include 8,000 homes

At one point, the village had been put forward – along with Cheddington – for the government’s new towns scheme, but it was later not shortlisted.

Instead, it has been included in Buckinghamshire Council’s local plan, which sets out a vision for future housing development, along with eight urban areas including Aylesbury, Haddenham, Princes Risborough, Stoke Mandeville, Wing and Winslow.

Steph Harwood, who moved her family to Beachampton 20 years ago so her children could go to school in Buckinghamshire, said: “I don’t really understand why they want to build another new town so close to Milton Keynes as it’s already overpopulated.

“I think it’s because we’re conveniently at the very end of Buckinghamshire and are closest to Milton Keynes.

“Over the years it’s been very clear that we’re the last ones to get roads redone and we never have things like snowploughs coming round, so it’s almost like we’re out of Buckinghamshire’s territory.”

Parts of Beachampton are on high ground, but most of the village is prone to regular flooding by the stream that runs through it.

Harwood added: “I hope they will listen to us because it will impact Milton Keynes, Bedford, all the cities downriver from here if they’re building on what’s naturally holding the water back to the floodplain.”