MORE than £120 million is set to be spent on improving Aylesbury over the next few years.
Budget papers published by the council have identified several capital projects which will enhance the town or the services within it.
Here are five schemes set to make a difference to Aylesbury.
Aylesbury Grid reinforcement
Over the next three financial years, up to 2024, Buckinghamshire Council is aiming to spend £17.8 million on improving Aylesbury’s electricity supply.
It is expected £7 million will be spent in 2021/2022, £8 million in 2022/2023, and £2.8 million in 2023/2024.
READ MORE: Weekly round up of latest court hearings
Explaining what the work will involve, a Buckinghamshire Council spokesperson said: “The electricity supply to Aylesbury is highly constrained, with limited capacity to support new housing growth.
“Under electricity connection legislation, new connections to increase capacity for housing would have to be paid for in full by the first developer and recovered from subsequent developers.
“This can act as a barrier to growth with no housing developer wishing to be the first to be hit with this large capital outlay.
“Using the Housing Infrastructure Fund, Buckinghamshire Council have an ambitious plan to support housing growth by forward funding new infrastructure to increase the available electricity supply in Aylesbury.
“The electrification of domestic energy consumption, such as heating, which is currently served by burning fossil fuels is recognised by the Climate Change Committee as a key route to reducing carbon emissions.
“Providing additional capacity for electricity supply to new homes in Aylesbury will help support this goal.”
South East Aylesbury Link Road
Over the next two years, a whopping £31.9 million will go towards the development of the South East Aylesbury Link Road.
More than £9 million will be splashed next year, with another £22.5 million forked out the following year.
READ MORE: Girl and two dogs rescued from house fire
The SEARL forms a new dual carriageway highways scheme being delivered by the council.
“It will link the B4443 Lower Road with the A413 Wendover Road and includes a bridge over the Aylesbury-Marylebone Railway.
The funds being allocated to the scheme are all from external sources including developer contributions, Department for Transport funding, Homes England funding and HS2 funding.
Waterside North Exchange development
The mixed-use development planned for the town centre will see 50 new apartments, as well as multiple new restaurants, come to Aylesbury.
Buckinghamshire Council, working with developers, is putting £9 million towards the scheme.
READ MORE: Pizza delivery driver stopped by police
£5.5 million of this will go towards the project in 2021/2022, with another £3.5 million planned for 2022/2023.
Regeneration of Aylesbury.
The town centre is set to get some love with £3 million earmarked for its regeneration in 2021/2022.
This work will include enhancements to Market Square and Kingsbury Square.
The first steps of this scheme were outlined in August 2020 as town centre bosses revealed plans to improve the quality and usability of public spaces.
New waste vehicles
Almost £7 million go towards replacing Aylesbury’s bin lorries over the next four years.
Only £200,000 is allocated for spending this year, but £2.6 million, £2.4 million and £1.7 million will be set aside for the following three years.
A new fleet of waste collection vehicles is being purchased over a four year period to replace those existing vehicles that are coming to the end of their operational life.
This spending is planned as part of Buckinghamshire Councils’ draft capital budget, which
Councillors will vote on the final budget in February.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here