Meeting documents

A presentation by Steven Bown (HIP Lead Project Officer - Bucks County Council).

The Chairman welcomed Steven Bown (HIP Lead Project Officer – Bucks County Council), Ben Fletcher (Bucks County Council) and Rebecca Hart (Urban Design Officer, WDC) to the meeting and invited them to give Members an update on the High Wycombe Town Centre Masterplan. 

The presentation covered the Phase Plan, Phase 5 – Queen Victoria Road / Easton Street, Queen Victoria Road Junction Option Comparisons, Library gardens proposal and the Abbey Way Gyratory preliminary design. 

The Committee heard that Phase 4 was about to start and that comments would be welcomed at the meeting on Phase 5 which looked at the Queen Victoria Road, Easton Street and Crendon Street junction.  Councillor Lesley Clarke stated her disappointment that she had not seen sight of the presentation before the meeting given it was in her area and that she not been consulted on the proposed changes.  Councillor Hill too stated that this was the first he had heard of the proposed changes. 

In discussion Members stated that they felt the location of the taxi rank on the High Street needed to be looked at and included at this stage (including disabled access - side and rear into taxis).  The Urban Design Officer stated that this was unfortunately outside the scope of this phase and that there was no funding available for it.  Members felt that returning the traffic flow to a two-way system in Easton Street could potentially be a good thing and suggested that a reduced speed limit could be considered. 

Members questioned when the improvement works to the High Street would be undertaken by Bucks County Council as it needed to be brought back into a good condition in order to help attract investors to the area.  The HIP Lead Project Officer explained that the issues in the High Street were considered very complex and whilst she agreed the improvement work needed to be done she did not believe it would be done anytime soon.  Members were asked to help put the pressure on to see if the improvement works could be pushed through quicker. 

It was noted that the Congestion Manager, Dave Roberts, was currently working on getting the faulty bollards in the High Street fixed / replaced.

Members were informed that Bucks County Council were suggesting installing an informal uncontrolled crossing by the Police Station with the potential for an alternative footpath through the Library gardens.  Members stated their concern at the thought of the Library gardens being reduced in size to make way for wider road lanes and a footpath running through the gardens as it could encourage misuse of the area.  It was noted that whilst the Wycombe District Council was the sole trustee for the Library gardens it should be remembered that there was a covenant on this garden.  Members were assured that the existing flower beds and service memorial would be retained and also suggested that it might be worth speaking to the utility companies to see if they might help fund parts of the Masterplan. 

Members suggested that the informal crossing needed to be moved up Queen Victoria Road to outside the Council Offices car park (north access) which was an area often used by theatre goers.  It was suggested that Bucks County Council might want to wait for a year before installing an informal crossing so that they could see where it might be best placed.  It was noted that a bus lay-by was being proposed outside the Baptist Church on Easton Street to help assist with the multiple vehicles attending funerals.  The Urban Design Officer informed Members that the grey bubble on the slides was currently being looked into as to what options might work best. 

It was explained that slide 3 showed the Queen Victoria Road junction option comparisons.  It was noted that only option 4b-3 did include a right hand turn from Queen Victoria Road into Easton Street which was considered by Bucks County Council to be the least favourable option.   Members were informed that none of the options provided allowed for a right hand turn from Crendon Street onto the High Street.  Members felt that the two lanes merging into one option (4b-4) would not work well.   It was highlighted that the Wycombe Police Station had a custody suite and that its custody vans would need the right hand turn as shown on option 4b-3.  The HIP Lead Project Officer explained that they were due to meet with the Police to discuss this area and different parts of the Masterplan and assured Members that the custody vans point would be raised with the Police.   Members were informed that the traffic signals proposed would be linked to the Train Station traffic signals so the traffic flow would not be adversely affected. 

The Chairman thanked the officers, on behalf of the Committee, for their informative presentation.

(Any member wishing to receive a copy of the detailed presentation should contact Democratic Services.)