Campaign to give High Wycombe its own council launches

Thursday, 8 February 2024 13:00

By Charlie Smith - Local Democracy Reporter

A new campaign for High Wycombe to get its own town council will launch this weekend with an event on the High Street.

Councillors, ex-mayors and others will gather outside the Guildhall at 10:30am on Saturday for a ‘mass photoshoot’ to support the creation of a town council for the unparished area of High Wycombe.

Campaigners point out that Buckinghamshire’s other towns – Amersham, Aylesbury, Beaconsfield, Chesham, Gerrards Cross, Marlow and Princes Risborough – all have their own civil local authorities.

Former mayors Trevor Snaith, Khalil Ahmed and Peter Cartwright are on the steering group for the new campaign for a High Wycombe Town Council.

Trevor told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “Every other town and parish in Buckinghamshire has its lowest level of democracy, which is a town or a parish council.

“They do so much for the local community and deliver so much, things that Buckinghamshire Council doesn’t do.

“Wycombe doesn’t have that voice. It lost that voice years ago and we are looking to bring that voice back. We will be putting the heart back into the town, into the community.”

The launch of the campaign comes ahead of Buckinghamshire Council’s own consultation on whether a town council should be created for High Wycombe.

The council consultation on its community governance review goes live on Monday (February 12), with information and surveys to be sent out to the area’s 34,000 households.