Dual carriageway could be constructed through Buckingham - affecting up to '3,000 households' says councillor

The project would be created at the A421 from Milton Keynes through to Buckingham onto the A34.

It would also include the A421/A34 roundabout by Buckingham’s Tesco Superstore.

It is designed to increase transport links between Buckingham, Bicester, Milton Keynes and Winslow, using the A421 Corridor.

But Buckingham West Councillor Robin Stuchbury believes increased traffic passing through the town could affect as many as 3,000 residents.

People living in new Buckingham developments in Lace Hill, The Badgers, and Meadway, could be affected by the potential new road, he said.

And Councillor Stuchbury is concerned that the council is drawing up potential plans for a new road project without involving Buckingham Town Council – while the town council is developing its own neighbourhood plan for housing projects in the area.

The councillor fears that ‘thousands of pounds of public money’ may have to be spent altering the neighbourhood plan if it doesn’t work in conjunction with the major new road.

At a cabinet meeting last Tuesday (12 July), he raised his concerns with Bucks Council cabinet members, asking whether Bucks Council and the town council could work together ‘at the earliest opportunity’.

Councillor Steven Broadbent countered stating that the project is a ‘relatively high level strategic study and as yet there are no specific proposals as of yet to consult with local residents’.

The cabinet member for Transport advised that the study is due to begin in autumn and will be unveiled and shared with the town council in 2023.

After consultation with the town council the local authority will decide how to proceed with the project.

Councillor Stuchbury said: “It is much better that we are involved from the onset, so that people can influence the route.”

The project is seen as the latest major road project after the Government cancelled plans to build an expressway linking Oxford with Aylesbury, Milton Keynes and Cambridge.

It would have cost the government £3.5 billion and led to one million homes being built in the three cities.