A COUNCIL has axed controversial proposals to turn open land into an over-flow car-park for The Rye following complaints from an influential group.

Wycombe District Council has decided against progressing plans to turn Marsh Green into a temporary car-park to accommodate extra visitors to The Rye during the peak summer period.

It comes after residents and the High Wycombe Society objected to rails being installed on the land in the conservation area to house vehicles.

Andrew Taylor told the Free Press: “We are very pleased – it was a quick decision that was made by the council, as I believe they were looking to put this in place by the end of the month.

“We jumped up and down very quickly and I believe WDC is now looking at alternative options. On the flip side, it shows The Rye is as popular as ever and the Wycombe Rye Lido is doing well if we need more parking.”

Mr Taylor wrote to WDC on behalf of the society earlier this week, stating that adding barriers and cars would ‘permanently disfigure’ Marsh Green.

He added: “Marsh Green is currently a high-quality green space kept in pristine condition. Allowing cars to park on it would compromise its quality and would cause a prominent, untidy and unwelcome visual intrusion.

“Installing rails “inland” along the back stream, as would be necessary to protect the river, would represent a permanent visual disfigurement.”

He urged the council to invest in upgrading public transport, point residents to other car-parks near-by - such as the one by the Trinity United Reformed Church - or allow motorists to park on the grass adjacent to the existing Rye car-park.

Cllr Trevor Snaith said he had been inundated with complaints from upset residents and called the parking proposals for the green “utter madness”.

WDC said the over-spill car-park plan was put in motion due to the high volumes of people flocking to The Rye last summer – which sparked complaints that there were not enough parking spaces available.

Cllr John Gibbs, WDC's Cabinet Member for Community, said: "We wrote to local residents about the idea of providing an overspill car park to alleviate parking on The Rye on a temporary basis. The idea did not have public support.

"We've listened to the concerns of local residents and we've acted on them which is why we took the decision yesterday that we won’t go ahead with the overspill car park."