Villagers who launched a campaign to save a four-hectare plot in their backyards from a housing developer have been dubbed “Nimbys” after their "shameful" bid was rejected.

       Residents in the Buckinghamshire hamlets of Hazlemere and Holmer Green banded together to make an ￡8.7million offer on the housing site after it went on the market this month.

       The site, a green space close to the two villages known as Tralee Farm, was approved for new builds in August 2024.

       However, local hopes of downscaling the plans were raised when Hawridge Strategic Land Ltd announced the plot was going on the market, with the landowner inviting bids by February 14.

       A group led by the Buckinghamshire-based leader of Britain’s Climate Party Ed Gemmell put in an ￡8.7million bid, hoping to attract a more environmentally friendly developer that would create a site of smaller homes geared towards first-time buyers and downsizers.

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       Planning permission was initially granted for the construction of 87 homes, including 37 three-bedroom and 18 four-bedroom properties.

       However, the group was told by Hawridge that its bid had been unsuccessful this week, leaving residents clinging to the last-ditch hope that they will succeed in designating the site as an Asset of Community Value.

       Mr Gemmell said the designation could give locals the chance to “discuss a community purchase of the site with its owners”, but added that he was “sad” about the offer not going through.

       “We hope that whoever does end up buying the site will come to the community and liaise on how to make this development work for people in Hazlemere and Holmer Green,” he said in a statement posted on social media.

       Residents living close to the site said it could cause their properties to plummet in value, as well as put undue strain on local services and destroy the picturesque Home Counties countryside.

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       Penny Harris, 56, told MailOnline she had bought her home next to the plot for its “beautiful” view of Buckinghamshire’s rolling green hills. Now, with development already under way, she said it has turned into a development site.

       “Everything is bursting at the seams,” another neighbour added. “People have got to have somewhere to live, but it’s the sheer density that people are so cross about. They’re going to have traffic going up and down the back of their gardens.”

       Hawridge called the group “local Nimbys with no financial backing” and accused its members of “attempting to derail a much-needed housing scheme under the guise of a speculative purchase bid”.

       The firm told the Bucks Free Press the group’s ￡8.7million bid was “not a serious proposition”, describing it as a “shameful attempt to obstruct a fully approved development”.

       The Express has contacted Hawridge Strategic Land Ltd for comment.