'This is how a lot of villages get ruined'

People living in a row of old houses in Wycombe Lane fear that extra homes will just bring more parking problems and traffic queues into the village.

Their homes back onto the field where the old railway line lies and so they were invited to have their say on the proposals by property developer Henry Homes at a meeting in Odyssey Glory Mill, in Glory Mill Lane, last Wednesday night.

There, they were shown plans to build some 24 flats, ten houses and affordable housing on the stretch of land which lies in front of a wooded hill. A new access road to the site would have to be built off Wycombe Lane.

Tami Foster, a Wycombe Lane resident, said after the meeting: "I don't know how this tiny strip of road will cope with the traffic. This is how a lot of towns and villages get ruined. There's already a big parking problem on Wycombe Lane so where are all the extra cars going to go?

Another concerned neighbour, who has lived in her 19th century home for more than 40 years, said: "A lot of people are frightened and upset. There's deer and everything out there. Proposals for this site have been made for the past 20 years. We have suffered ever such a lot of stress in the past."

However, Steve Britnell, a spokesman for the property developer, said that last week's meeting was a serious attempt to alleviate the issues residents have.

He said: "We are trying to be reasonable and responsible developers. Following Wednesday's consultation we are seeing what things we can incorporate into the scheme before we submit our planning application to the council in about three week's time."

He also said that nothing has been agreed with regard to access to the site, although he confirmed that the developer has already been in talks with Buck County Council's highway's department on the possibility of installing a new set of traffic lights at the access site.