Councillors have asked a cycling action group to rethink their designs for new cycle racks in Beaconsfield Old Town, claiming the current one is “inappropriate” for a conservation area.

Beaconsfield Cycle Path Action Group (BCP) asked the town council for permission for new cycle racks to be installed on the corner of Wycombe End and Aylesbury End, by the benches next to Market Square, to encourage more cycling in the area.

The group originally proposed a large ‘penny farthing’ style cycle rack, but councillors asked them to think again and instead they suggested the same design but smaller and painted black.

However, councillors are still not keen on the design and called for something “in keeping” with the area, at a meeting of the open spaces committee last month, despite Beaconsfield Old Town Residents Association (BOTRA) and coffee shop Smith and Kittle favouring the design for their own new racks.

Cllr John Read, town mayor, said the penny farthing design would not be suitable for the Old Town and needed to be more “discreet.”

He said: “I don’t think, whether they are painted black or not, they will blend in. As an Old Town resident and an Old Town councillor, it is not an appropriate design for a conservation area.

“It won’t be the preferred design for residents and I am speaking as a resident, this is 150 yards from where I live.

“As it is a conservation area, the design should be as simple and as discreet as possible.”

Cllr Richard Keith agreed that the cycle racks needed to be designed carefully for the area.

He said: “I would be quite happy for cycle racks to go in as long as they are in keeping with the Old Town rather than a bit of bent galvanized piping.

“However if they are not utilised, I think they should be removed. Because they just become more ironmongery for people to find in their way on the pavement.

“If they are used, utilised properly, that’s fine, if it becomes somewhere for people to tie up their dogs while they go in the shop, they should be removed at the expense of the person who put them in.”

Cllr Philip Bastiman said the committee was “comfortable” with having two cycle racks on the west side of the bench but asked BCP to rethink, saying they favoured “a smaller, simpler design” like the typical ‘Sheffield’ racks.

Belinda Avery, from BCP, said the group were happy to work with the town council because they want to promote cycling.

She said: “Our main imperative is to roll out cycling within Beaconsfield.

“The intention is to increase the ease for cycling within the town so residents are able to cycle into town, use the shops, use the cafes. Effectively cyclists have to go to Waitrose to chain their bikes at the moment.

“If the penny farthing design does not find favour, we will go back and reconsider.”