Aylesbury roads to be blocked for cycle route
Planters will be placed at the ends of roads on Southcourt.
Buckinghamshire Council spent £28,000 on a failed travel scheme which it now intends to repurpose in another area of the county.
Buckinghamshire Council will relocate to Aylesbury a series of decorative planters which were removed from Lower Road and South Park, in Gerrards Cross, after public outrage over lack of prior consultation.
The plan is to place planters in the following spots on Southcourt:
- Chalgrove Walk near the junction with Churchill Avenue
- Challoner Road near the junction with Grenville Road
- Thrasher Road near the junction with Grenville Road
- Thrasher Road near the junction with Cottesloe Road
- Old Stoke Road near the junction with Clover Lane
The full length of the road will remain open, facilitating resident access, but vehicular access will only be possible from one side of the road.
Read the letter sent to residents here.
Controversial scheme
The so-called “quietway”, between Gerrards Cross and Chalfont St Peter, was swiftly scrapped after a public petition revealed a “clear majority objected to the scheme”.
Campaigners who branded the project “dangerous” also reported the planters had forced traffic into residential roads and were of concern to emergency services.
Gerrards Cross Town Council also opposed the quietway.
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The 14 decorative blockades, currently in storage, are now bound for trial in Southcourt, in Aylesbury, in October, according to a council spokesperson.
Buckinghamshire Council revealed it had spent £28,000 implementing the controversial pop-up travel scheme, including on decommissioning the project – with each of the 14 planters costing £360 a piece, including filling and installation.
The unitary authority was awarded a £514,000 grant by the Department for Transport (DfT), for a series of “temporary active travel schemes” across the county.
The schemes were designed to promote more walking and cycling as people returned to work and leisure activities “as lockdown restrictions gradually ease”.
The quietways are also designed to promote safer roads and air quality and better personal health.
A spokesperson for Buckinghamshire Council said:
“The decorative planters are currently in storage and will be reused on another Active Travel Scheme, in Southcourt, Aylesbury, planned for October.”
Janning Shenoy, of South Park, who helped lead a petition against the scheme to reach in excess of 1,400 signatures, said:
“I trust the residents there will want them and that Buckinghamshire Council has done a consultation beforehand – it will be hugely embarrassing for them if they haven’t and there’s further uproar.”
Buckinghamshire Council has been approached for comment.