A TOWN COUNCIL which challenged the “legal base” for introducing a pop-up travel scheme without public approval is set to sit down with the unitary authority this week.

Gerrards Cross Town Council (GCTC) confirmed plans to discuss with Buckinghamshire Council a controversial temporary travel scheme, or “quietway”, between Chalfont St Peter and Gerrards Cross, on Thursday, September 10.

Little detail is known at this time about what will be said, but GCTC has in the past expressed opposition to a series of decorative planters installed by the council in Lower Road and South Park, without first consulting the public.

READ MORE: Council blockades creating ‘dangerous’ roads are manually moved by ‘frustrated drivers’

The change has been met with public disapproval, including a 1,400-signature petition by campaigners who branded the council scheme “dangerous”.

GCTC first raised concerns about the proposed scheme to Buckinghamshire Council on June 23, ahead of a virtual meeting on July 14 when it outrightly condemned it.

It further set out its case against the scheme in a letter to the unitary authority on July 29.

What are GCTC’s main arguements?

No need for a quietway – arguing “perfectly good alternates exist” (though they do require maintenance)

Consequences to road closures – intensified traffic on single-track lanes “where children may be playing”, and increased carbon emissions

Restricted access – emergency vehicles, disabled people, and the local school “essentially cut off”

Value for money – how taxpayer’s money might be better used to meet government policy and “the needs of the local people”

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Petitioner, Superna Bhardwaj, of South Park, claimed the planters had forced traffic into residential roads and were of concern to emergency services.

She also said residents are “appalled” by the “lack of regard” to correspondence sent by GCTC to the unitary authority against the so-called quietway.

In its July 29 letter, GCTC said it had “not yet found a resident or trader in Gerrards Cross who is supportive of this scheme.”

It also questioned the “legal base” on which the scheme was being implemented, adding just “a scattering of residents” received notification.

READ MORE: Petition against ‘quietway’ backed up by town council ‘legal’ dispute

At the time, GCTC demanded consultation-based evidence for choosing the route between Chalfont St Peter and Gerrards Cross.

It also requested to be consulted on its “local knowledge and understanding of real community need” for such schemes.

“Some of the propositions we have in mind, would provide long-term return others could be seen as genuine experiments.  Sadly, the proposal is not yet right and puts the new council’s credibility into question. We believe that by demonstrating joint working we can reverse that,” it wrote.

“We are having a meeting with Buckinghamshire Council about this on Thursday so hopefully will have more to say then,” said Sue Moffat, clerk for Gerrards Cross Town Council.