Wycombe Liberal Democrats

WYCOMBE District Council agreed that a bridge could be built across the River Wye, to a new road, which would link the new homes on the site of the old sewage treatment works in Bassetsbury Lane with London Road itself. It will run across the area where the access lane to the Curry’s store currently lies.

At the Development Control Committee meeting, decisions were made without due consideration of the bigger picture and impact on the east of High Wycombe.
The DCC voted for the St James access road and bridge to be approved! The councillors failed to stand up for what is right: they accepted the proposal for the new development bridge and lights. One Tory councillor even suggested that the officers were applying duress to force the decision to approve to proceed.
Others supported Cllr Trevor Snaith and Cllr Ray Farmer who suggested that the new road layout was flawed and would cause additional congestion to the London Road. All traffic turning out of the new road will be forced to turn left onto the A40, and, if need be, do a “u-turn” at the Hatters Lane roundabout, coming back to the lights they had come through when they left the estate!!

The St James development to date has a poor performance regarding the impact of the other access roads into, through and out of the site. There has been considerable comment in the press regarding the traffic problems and accidents arising from poor design and highway planning:
- On the London Road/retail park due to poor lights and junction, there are car parts in the middle of the road as a testament to the problems
- On the Abbey Barn junction outside the Marsh School residents have painted their own STOP road markings in an attempt to prevent more accidents
- Guinions Road, The Marsh streets, Abbey Barn and Kingsmead Road – are all rat runs – and St James plans another rat run through the new development
- Currently our District and County Councils are displaying a marked indifference to the problems they are about to cause on the A40 from Hatters Lane through to the Marsh and in the New St James estate.

Wycombe District Council’s decision making is effectively run by rural and semi urban Conservative councillors making decisions that impact High Wycombe town. Councillors who represent and live in the country wards appear to have little comprehension of the dynamics of the town and the problems they are creating. Perhaps they should book a week in one of the hotels along London Road to see what High Wycombe town dwellers have to live with everyday!

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