Wycombe Liberal Democrats

by Richard Groom

• The legal requirement for the travel plan and meetings has expired but WWFC and Wasps have agreed to continue holding meetings. The next one is on 16^th November at 7.30. By then we should know Wasps’s plans for extension of the ground.

• Traffic signs will be changed from Causeway to Adams Park soon.

• On car sharing, Wycombe Wanderers promotes car sharing by charging for car parking according to the number of people travelling in the car. They also offer a discount for cars arriving before 12.30. Wasps supporters tend to car share already by coming to matches in groups.

• Park and Ride - Both teams are actively encouraging Park and Ride. WWFC run P+R buses from Cressex and Stokenchurch and are intending to increase the number of trips from Cressex. Wasps also support P+R. They use Booker Airfield and are intending to open a new site to the West of the town.

• Wasps said that they are close to presenting plans to increase the stadium capacity. They had been discussing with WWFC, the emergency services etc. Plans will then be put out for consultation. It’s important that Wasps extend the capacity in order to remain at Wycombe. Wasps are also actively pursuing the possibility of taking part in a scheme to process `returns’ from season ticket holders. This would effectively increase the capacity of the ground for all but the biggest games when all season ticket holders attend.

• Illegal and inconsiderate parking on public roads near the ground remains a problem. Unfortunately, the police could not be present at this meeting due to a problem elsewhere. The meeting participants were generally critical about the lack of policing at the ground. Roads around other grounds are coned-off during matches and parking restrictions introduced - but not Wycombe. In previous meetings the police had said that lack of policing was down to lack of resources. The problem seems to be that fines collected from illegal parking do not go to funding the policing operation.

• It is possible that the special parking area which WDC controls in the town centre could be extended to cover the area around the football ground. It would then be policed by the NCP parking attendants. However local residents would have to understand that the streets would be patrolled at all times - not just during matches.

• The clubs are concerned about unofficial car parks operated by businesses in the industrial estate. Some masquerade as official car parks and there is a tendency for operators to be present only to collect the money when the fans arrive. The clubs have no influence over these car parks and are particularly concerned about the lack of control over vehicles leaving after the matches. It is only a matter of time before there is an accident.