I AM writing to correct any misunderstanding of the current position on the Marlow Parking and Transportation Study which as you know is being jointly prepared by Buckinghamshire County Council and Wycombe District Council in conjunction with our consultants Halcrow Fox.

It was made clear in December 1998 at the public consultation workshops in Marlow that the council would receive a report from the consultants in spring prior to full consultation with the public, before reaching a final decision later in 1999. We are still very much on target in accordance with the programme we set out at that time and I am not aware of any delay.

The next step is that a working party of members and officers from the county and district councils will be held on March 31 to give further consideration to the work of the consultants and agree on how best to achieve full public consultation of the issues and options raised by them. It is anticipated that this will include a leaflet summarising the outcome of the study and highlighting the possible options. This will be sent to all households in and around Marlow and to key organisations with an invitation to make views known.

The public consultation is scheduled for the latter part of May, extending into June. Details are yet to be finalised, but at least one public meeting will be organised to allow an opportunity for issues to be aired publicly. There is inevitably a gap between agreeing what is to go forward for public consultation and the consultation period itself, as we have to prepare and produce all the publicity and consultation material.

This year we also have the added complication of district and town council elections. Nominations have now opened for these elections on May 6 and in line with the Code of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity, we will not be seeking to publish any information which could influence public opinion one way or the other or which is politically controversial before the date of the election.

Members of the joint county and district working party will meet again to consider the public comments that are received following the consultation period and will be making a recommendation about which strategy to adopt for the district and county councils to consider in September. At the same meeting the district council will consider what, if any, amendments are necessary to the deposit local plan arising from an adopted strategy. There is more than adequate time to do this as the Inquiry into the Local Plan objections is not due to start until January 2000 and the plan is unlikely to be adopted before 2001.

I look forward to receiving the views of the local community on this important matter and I have no doubt that the final strategy will provide a robust basis on which to address traffic issues in Marlow, fully reflecting the views which arise through the consultation process.

Chris Swanwick BA (Hons), MRTPI, MIMgt

Director of Planning,

Transport & Development

Wycombe District Council

Queen Victoria Road

High Wycombe

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.