Marlovians will be invited to have their say on controversial parking plans for the town centre at a consultation that is set to launch next month. 

Buckinghamshire County Council (BCC) wants to introduce paid parking in the High Street and surrounding roads where there are currently “limited waiting bays”, where people can park for free for one hour between 8am and 6.30pm with no return within an hour, in a bid to tackle “parking and traffic problems” in the area.

Under the plans, which have been slammed by residents and businesses, the town council, Marlow Chamber and the Marlow Society, people could pay £1 per hour or 20p per 12 minutes.

The town’s mayor Cllr Jocelyn Towns has been a key figure in protesting against the proposals, launching a petition which garnered thousands of signatures against the proposals and saying the plans could leave disabled drivers with nowhere to park.

The consultation will run from February 9 until March 10 and a drop-in session will take place on February 15 at Sir William Borlase's Grammar School between 1.30-7.30pm.

It was set to be held on Valentine's Day but the town council said it convinced BCC to move it to the following day to encourage more people to attend.

Officers from BCC will have hard copies of the proposed plans on display and will take public comments both on paper and electronically at the session.

Cllr Towns said: “It is imperative that everyone who signed the petition to say no completes the consultation to say why.  

“BCC will launch the consultation on February 9th and we will have more information then but in the meantime please put February 15 firmly in your diaries.”

An “extensive” leaflet and poster campaign to make the community aware of the consultation will take place, with councillors agreeing a spend of up to £5,000 to cover the cost of producing and distributing the literature.

Cllr Towns, together with deputy mayor Chris Funnel, met county council deputy leader and cabinet member for transportation Mark Shaw last year, where she pointed out that the data being used as a basis for the consultation was “seriously flawed”.

At the time, she said: “They are ignoring the needs of businesses, residents and visitors.”

At a meeting of the full council on Tuesday, Cllr Richard Scott, town councillor and Wycombe district councillor for the Marlow south east ward, praised Cllr Towns for leading the fight against the proposals.

He said: “I want to say thank you because you put an awful lot of personal time into this to help the town resist the parking proposals.”