Wycombe Wanderers Training Ground Faces Flood Objection

The Environment Agency has objected to Wycombe Wanderers’ plan for a training ground at Farnham Royal, saying the flood risk has not been properly assessed. It recommends that permission is refused unless the club sends a better flood risk assessment.

The site is Farnham Park Playing Fields and South Buckinghamshire Golf Course, about eight miles south-east of High Wycombe. The club’s application, PL/26/07779/FA, was lodged in September. It covers a performance centre, an indoor pitch, nine outdoor pitches and a golf course cut from 18 holes to 12. Our October story sets out the full scheme.

The public consultation closed on 1 November. On 11 November the register’s comments tab showed 62 comments from the public, 61 of them objections and none in support.

Who objects and why

The responses filed on the register so far:

Flooding. The Environment Agency’s letter of 23 October says the flood risk assessment does not show whether the scheme would increase flooding elsewhere. It says there is no climate change allowance in it, and that the plans for flood storage, floor levels and safe escape routes are inadequate. The agency would drop its objection if a revised assessment covers those points.

The council’s own drainage officer objected on 6 November for similar reasons. The officer notes two culverted watercourses on the site whose positions have not been confirmed by surveys.

Heritage. The council’s heritage officer says the large new buildings would cause “a moderate degree of harm” to Stoke Park’s listed buildings, its registered park and garden and its conservation area, through changes to their setting. The response concludes that the application “should be refused for this reason” unless there are sufficient planning reasons to approve it.

The MP. Joy Morrissey, MP for Beaconsfield, wrote on 26 October urging refusal. She calls the scheme inappropriate development in the Green Belt and says the “very special circumstances” needed have not been shown. She says the application indicates the loss of more than 400 trees. The summary of the club’s own environmental statement gives 203 trees lost and more than 2,400 planted.

The parishes. Stoke Poges Parish Council says the scheme should be refused as submitted. It also says it “recognises the investment proposed at Farnham Park” and lists the conditions it would want if the council disagrees. Farnham Royal Parish Council objects because it opposes releasing any Green Belt land in the parish.

Who does not object

Sport England raises no objection to the work at Farnham Park Playing Fields, subject to conditions. It says it is “minded, reluctantly” not to object to losing the tennis courts, because the wider benefits could outweigh the harm if the facilities are open to the whole community. It says it cannot yet fully assess the golf course changes.

The council’s environmental health team does not object to most of the scheme if conditions control noise and lighting. It has a holding objection on noise from the training ground on the golf course until it sees an updated assessment.

The club’s case is that it needs one site for its first team and academy. Its Marlow Road permission runs out in February 2031, and its academy lease at Harlington ends in 2029. It argues that wider community use of the pitches and taking the running costs off the council amount to the very special circumstances needed in the Green Belt.

Who will decide

The register still lists the application as a delegated decision, to be made by officers. Two councillors have asked for a committee to decide it instead:

• Cllr David Moore, ward councillor for Farnhams and Stoke Poges, asked for it to go to the Strategic Sites Committee. He says he remains open-minded because he sits on that committee. He notes that the council has interests in the land beyond its role as planning authority.
• Cllr Dev Dhillon objected over access from Park Road and the design of the indoor pitch dome, and asked for it to be called in.

A residents’ group, the Stoke Poges Task Force, has written asking the Secretary of State to call the application in. The council’s target date for a decision is 21 January 2027.

What it means for you

Nothing changes at the golf course or the playing fields yet. The club can send revised flood and noise reports, and the Environment Agency and the drainage officer would then be consulted again.

The register still accepts comments while the application is undecided. Search for PL/26/07779/FA on the council’s planning register.

Sources

• Buckinghamshire Council planning register, PL/26/07779/FA, comment counts and consultee responses checked 11 November 2026.
• Environment Agency, consultation response, 23 October 2026.
• Buckinghamshire Council sustainable drainage officer, response, 6 November 2026.
• Buckinghamshire Council heritage officer, response, 6 November 2026.
• Sport England, response, filed 30 October 2026.
• Buckinghamshire Council environmental health, response, filed 10 November 2026.
• Joy Morrissey MP, letter, 26 October 2026.
• Stoke Poges Parish Council, representation, and Farnham Royal Parish Council, comment.
• Cllr David Moore, call-in request, and Cllr Dev Dhillon, objection.