A Wycombe engineering boss said a legal agreement affecting his business has caused him to lose sleep.

Oliver Stevens, a director at DRJ Engineering at Garland Works, asked Buckinghamshire Council to alter a Section 106 legal agreement affecting his business site.

The agreement is linked to planning permission for a nearby care home at Fairfield Works, approved in February 2025.

The council agreed to the care home on the basis that while buildings at Fairfield Works would be demolished, commercial buildings elsewhere on the wider site, including at Garland Works, would be retained.

Mr Stevens said the agreement could cause problems in the future. He said parts of Garland Works sit close to the River Wye, where planning policies restrict development within a buffer zone.

He said if a commercial building were damaged or destroyed by events outside his control, such as flooding, fire, subsidence or an accident, it might not be allowed to rebuild. He said this could leave the business in breach of the legal agreement.

Mr Stevens said: “Since learning of this I have lost many hours of sleep and I will need a resolution in writing as soon as possible to remedy this.

“We were forced to accept obligations that the commercial units shall be retained in situ. If we have to demolish for safety reasons and we are not allowed to rebuild then we will be in breach.”

However, Buckinghamshire Council has refused a request by DRJ Engineering to change the Section 106 agreement.

Council officers said the agreement is less than a year old and remains a key part of the original planning decision.

In a decision letter, the council’s service director Steve Bambrick said the obligation remains necessary under the current development plan and cannot be removed due to hypothetical future events or policies.

He said: “Concerns relating to hypothetical future policy changes, or theoretical future events, cannot justify removing a planning obligation that continues to serve its intended purpose.

“You have raised a specific concern regarding situations where the buildings might be damaged or destroyed through events outside your control.

“The purpose of the obligation is to prevent the voluntary removal of commercial floorspace, not to penalise unavoidable events.

“The Council is unable to provide exemptions from existing or future planning policies under a S106 Agreement, and it also cannot predetermine the outcome of any future planning applications.”