High Wycombe: Could River Wye re-open in town centre?

Plans to bring the chalk stream back to the surface were shelved late last year after councillors at Wycome District Council decided not to put cash towards the project.

READ MORE: Full list of KFC stores that will open by May 4

As Bucks Free Press reported in October 2019, the scheme would likely cost £3 million but a report from officers suggested the economic benefits of the project “were not fully proven”, despite acknowledging “some social benefits” and “considerable environmental benefits”.

This came before Wycombe District Council became part of the new Buckinghamshire Council unitary authority at the start of the month.

Now the new council is up and running, Bucks Free Press asked council leader Martin Tett if the project is still being considered.

He said: “That’s one of the things that Wycombe District Council was looking at.

“On a personal basis, I think it would look lovely, I think it’s a great idea.

READ MORE: High Wycombe man behind mysterious anti-EU banner

“What we need to do though because it’s something we are inheriting from the district council, is examine what the costs and the benefits would be.

“There are quite ambitious plans for the regeneration of High Wycombe and we’d have to look at whether we want to spend the money on re-opening the River Wye or whether it would be better to regenerate the town centre in other ways.

“So I’m open to that as a concept but we would need to know a bit more about the costs and what the benefits would be.”

The proposal emerged in June 2017 after Wycombe District Council announced a “radical £2 million plan” to re-open the river.

Councillor Ron Gaffney said had the plans gone ahead it would have been the “best thing to happen to the town in 50 years”.

READ MORE: Bucks tips could be allowed to re-open 'within days'

The river flows for around 10 and a half miles from West Wycombe down to the River Thames in Bourne End, but much of the river in High Wycombe town centre is underground, with the likes of the Abbey Way flyover built over the top.

Updated estimates suggested the cost of the project would be closer to £3 million following a report published in November 2018 with council officers suggesting some of the cash for the project could be raised from a crowdfunding campaign.

The idea has had the backing of the High Wycombe Society and several Wycombe councillors over the past few years but the District Council’s 2019 decision seemed to put an end to the proposal.