Marlovians are being “mislead” on controversial new parking plans for the town centre, it has been claimed.

The town’s mayor, Cllr Jocelyn Towns, accused Bucks County Council (BCC), which wants to introduce pay-and-display parking in the High Street and surrounding roads, as well as double yellow lines on street corners, of “misleading” residents at a recent drop-in session, saying its presentation on the plans was “confusing”.

Residents were invited to have their say at the session, at Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School, as part of a month-long consultation which ends on March 10.

Cllr Towns said: “Officers had the incorrect information and were misleading residents.

“In particular, including the yellow lines in the parking consultation has really clouded the consultation.

“We have made it clear to BCC that the issue for us and for at least 7,500 local residents is the plan to impose paid-for parking in the centre of Marlow.

“We believe it would be detrimental to the success of the town, discriminate against the less able and discourage visitors, amongst other things.

“But we have no issue with the inclusion of the yellow lines on corners for health and safety reasons.”

Cllr Towns added that she had written to BCC’s cabinet member for transportation, Cllr Mark Shaw, outlining the “flaws” in the consultation.

Resident and Marlow Free Press Nostalgia writer Michael Eagleton also slammed the proposals, saying it had not been “thought through carefully”, adding that it was “obviously just a means to subsidise the BCC parking deficit”.

He said: “Marlow has always generated goodwill and enjoyed a fine reputation amongst locals and occasional visitors for the facility to park free for up to an hour in the shopping streets or up to two hours in the Causeway for the attractions of the park and river.

“Little of the revenue [from the parking meters] will return to Marlow, but it is Marlow taxpayers who will bear the cost of the introduction of the scheme, the meters and policing them, etc.

“There are certainly insufficient parking spaces in Marlow at busy times, but this ill-thought out proposal will do nothing to help this or to improve traffic flow.

“A major objection is the additional burden it would place on already overcrowded residential streets close to the town centre, already jammed with workers reluctant to pay the relatively high all-day tariffs in the main car parks.”

He said he also fears that introducing the meters will mean areas such as Station Road, Glade Road, Cambridge Road, Claremont Road and Claremont Gardens will become “even more packed” with “non-residential” vehicles.

BCC said the proposals for tackling the parking issues in the town had come about as a response to concerns raised by residents, retailers and other businesses.

Dave Roberts, network congestion manager at Transport for Bucks said: “The consultation on the proposals is open to all and we very much want to hear the public’s views.

“There are two parts to this consultation, with the first to gauge support for safety schemes around the town to reinforce where people should not park according to the Highway Code.

“The other element seeks to improve parking management in and around the town centre with potential pay and display machines as one element to help do this.

“However, we recognise that the general public may not wish to pay for parking and we would, again, very much welcome people’s views on this.

“All responses to the consultation will be considered alongside the well-supported petition and a report will go to the county council’s cabinet member for transportation, summarising the consultations and making recommendations on how best to proceed.”