SUMMER fete season is upon us again, and whilst there has been no let up in my usual round of constituency engagements, I am always delighted to supplement them with a visit to a fair put on by the local community.

The weather is just about holding out for us, and I always find them enjoyable, both in terms of the excellent refreshments and the opportunity to chat with residents.

This week I am off to Princes Risborough, in the south of the Buckingham constituency, for a public meeting on various planning issues affecting the area. The development of the Wycombe Local Plan and the proposed development of the Molins sports ground will be two of the items under discussion.

As I made clear at a meeting the week before last hosted by the developer, I am entirely opposed to the Molins site being used as anything other than a community facility; the land should certainly not be used for housing. Furthermore, with the Wycombe Local Plan still undecided, it would be a grave error in terms of policy to allow such an application – that would site ninety dwellings on Green Belt land – to come to pass.

I imagine I will also be asked about the concerns that many have about the current train timetable, and the changes that Chiltern Rail are proposing which are currently out to consultation. The proposal is that the number of off-peak trains between Risborough and Marylebone is reduced from three to two an hour which is, of course, entirely unacceptable. Furthermore, problems persist with the timetabling of and overcrowding on the commuter trains, which is only set to get worse. I will be submitting to the consultation in due course, and urge all Bucks Free Press readers to do the same.

I am sure that most people, to a greater or lesser degree, are glued to the World Cup tournament. At the time of writing, England are about to play Uruguay, and I will be rooting for our team, assuming my commitments in the House allow me the time to do so. In the meantime, I am looking forward to maybe seeing readers at the meeting in Princes Risborough on Friday.

The public meeting is this Friday at 7pm at The Princes Centre, Clifford Road, Princes Risborough.