I've learned how the pressure of a deadline focuses the mind. I've also thought a lot more about Aylesbury Vale and the future for the small businesses within it. The investment in our county town should give us great opportunity but I fear this could be squandered unless we get our priorities right.

In my first ever column I shared with you all the driving force within the Federation of Small Businesses - our desire to create a climate in which small businesses can flourish.

It's the reason why so many of us give our time for free in support of its ideals. In that first column I also said that we should be passionate about making Aylesbury a magnet for entrepreneurs.

So let's take stock: what do we need to see in Aylesbury Vale if we are to become that magnet?

If you ask the business community it's simple: good road and rail transport, planning policies that enable small businesses to start and to expand, a well educated workforce, a vibrant local economy that creates jobs and generates shopping pounds and a commitment from the 'big spenders' - particularly but not exclusively our local councils - to place business, where justified on value for money terms -with local companies.

And, on top of that, we need a public image for the Vale that makes it clear we welcome expansion and economic growth.

Aylesbury Vale Advantage, who are delivering the vision, have all the right intentions. Their key projects cover town centre regeneration; a revamp for Aylesbury College coupled with a pledge to forge links between the education community and business; plans for housing growth and improvements to public transport (the Parkway Station and the traffic free zone in the centre of town).

But here's my worry - it looks as if we're pursuing the developments in the wrong order.

First of all it seems that new houses and a spanking new town centre will precede the transport improvements that will be so essential to make all of this work.

Now if you're a small business in the retail, hospitality or service trades this is a real problem. Expensive lettings in Waterside will probably be beyond our reach, but we do hope that the new Aylesbury will attract students, workers and visitors all of whom might either provide resources for our businesses or buyers of our services.

If these people cannot easily get into or around town they will desert us for our rivals.

Secondly we need all these new visitors to come to our parts of the town - the shops, offices and restaurants outside of the gleaming new centre - and this will only happen if the town feels coherent and connected. Look through the back issues of the Herald on its website and see how many articles and readers' letters there have been expressing concerns that the High Street and other areas will become isolated; secondary to the Exchange Street development in every sense of the word.

It looks as if all this could come to pass right on our doorstep. High Wycombe's beautiful new retail development, Eden, opens in March and I attended Wycombe District Council's Business Consultation meeting last week with a number of my members.

The council has done its very best to do the right thing for the town and all its businesses but there are issues.

The Highways' Agency has made a mess of the main junction onto the M40 and that area regularly gridlocks.

They are worried about how to revitalise the town's second shopping centre, from which two major stores are decanting into Eden. They are hoping they will not lose key stores on their High St (which, like Aylesbury's is outside the new centre) - but they did not sound confident.

My plea today to all those involved in Aylesbury's development is twofold. Talk to your neighbours in High Wycombe and learn from their successes and their failures. And think now about how you are going to nurture your valuable small business community so they can play their full part in our future.