"If this is what it's like now, how bad will it get?" Great Missenden Councillor hits out at HS2 works

Peter Martin, Cabinet member for Planning and Economic Development at Chilterns District Council and Bucks County Councillor for Great Missenden got in touch to share his concerns with the current building work taking place in the area.

Contractors have moved in to a site on the A413, where they are beginning preparatory work for a tunnel.

There are huge concerns about the disruption this will cause to local businesses and to commuters coming to and from Aylesbury.

Despite persistent requests, Peter says that HS2 and BCC have failed to deliver accurate traffic forecasting, or even appropriate plans for how to deal with the disruption work will cause.

Peter said: "I've been involved with HS2 in discussions for a long time.

"We've had some successes with them, getting mitigation where possible to try and ameliorate the effects of the building work.

"But even with this, the amount of construction traffic, the soil diggers and dumptrucks on the site already - we know this is going to go on for a very long time. It is going to be very difficult for these works vehicles to traverse some very tight corners, and that could become a serious issue.

"Is this just a tip of the iceberg? We need to see strong plans made by HS2 and BCC about how they will deal with the external problems this will create."

Peter points to the 'traffic crisis' Aylesbury is already facing, especially for people commuting to the south of the County.

Peter added: "My concern is that with the additional HS2 work taking place, our roads are going to become gridlocked."

HS2 promised screening/shrouding for the works, which has failed to materialise.

Peter says this now creates a risk, as people 'rubberneck' to try and see what's happening on the site.

At a meeting last week, BCC said 'they were not in a position to distribute traffic plans' as they hadn't yet been signed off.

More concerns have been raised about how construction works taking place on this road may affect the Amersham Crematorium.

The crematorium is the biggest in the UK, and runs a tight timetable with regards to services.

Peter said: "Any disruptions for people travelling to the crematorium can make an already fraught time worse, so it's vital plans are in place to ease the traffic that will invariably result from these works."

HS2 have been approached for comment.