A failed road which Buckingham Town Council has been asking the local highway authority to repair for more than five years still awaits repair. Top Angel, one of the industrial estate’s main thoroughfares, between Great Slade and Osier Way, collapsed largely due to heavy vehicles delivering to factories and units.
Despite repeated requests to have this road maintained, still nothing has been done. A spokesman for Transport for Buckinghamshire told BTC in January that two large areas “right outside the entrance to two large industrial parks” need to be reconstructed and this would require a road closure “creating havoc for local businesses”. Suitable timing and availability of funds must be taken into consideration.
Ironically, two days later Buckinghamshire Council’s Strategic Sites planning committee approved outline plans for 420 houses, to which one of the entrances will be off Top Angel.
Town Councillors point out that should a catastrophic incident occur to industrial premises at Osier Way or Great Slade, Top Angel is the only emergency exit from the area. Furthermore, it is at the entrance to neither industrial area, and a temporary closure would be not as disruptive as is alleged by TfB.
‘The longer it is left, the worse it will get, and shortly it is going to be expected to cope with the estate development traffic,’ says BTC Planning chairman Cllr Mark Cole JP. ’Members want the failed areas dealt with as soon as possible, but even our Shire Councillors are unable to get a positive response.’
For enquiries, please contact Paul Hodson at Buckingham Town Council on 01280 816426, communications@buckingham-tc.gov.uk.
