‘Restore sparkling River Wye in High Wycombe' - readers' letters

To send your own letter, email bfpletters@london.newsquest.co.uk.

Please note, any letters sent to the Bucks Free Press office are only being picked up periodically as all staff are still working from home.

LETTER OF THE WEEK: Praise for medical staff

First, on behalf of Wycombe Rotary my thanks to all the volunteers, paramedics, their support staff and those who administer the vaccine, doctors nurses and others who have worked over the last week and weekend at Adams Park and Wycombe Town Hall.

They are continuing to work, ensuring the flow of folk who are booked in to receive their C19 vaccine injections are eased through the system with the utmost military precision and efficiency.

And a big thanks to the members of the fire service, and others who volunteered their time and braved the snow and ice to ensure the traffic routes and parking were clear and safe for all to use.

The whole operation which is continuing, and will I imagine continue for the foreseeable future, is all very impressive, so from us a very big thank you.

And don’t forget to wear your masks in public places, if you can.

Anthony Mealing, President, Rotary Club of High Wycombe

‘Restore sparkling River Wye in town’

It is indeed uplifting to see Government reacting positively to the desperate need to regenerate our ailing town centre.

Credit is due to the old Wycombe District Council (WDC) for starting this initiative long before the awful and unimaginable long term impact of Covid -19 hit our historic town centre.

READ MORE: Plans to reopen the River Wye through town centre are shelved because of costs

Credit also to the BFP and the Wycombe Society for their continued pressure to restore and revitalise our historic town centre, but the clock is ticking and tinkering at the edges is no longer appropriate and is a waste of public money.

Wycombe has much to offer, it is the economic powerhouse of the county, it is surrounded by an affluent population, it sits in a beautiful Chiltern valley, it has the most delightful entrances to the town, many historic and listed buildings and, significantly, it is blessed with a wonderful chalk stream, the river that gave the town its name. 

Sadly that river still lies buried in dank and lifeless conduits under a faceless concrete jungle. 

Meanwhile the town continues to decline, principally because it is no longer a destination town, it has become a “necessity town” that discourages lingering visits.

There is sound technical evidence that the river can be easily restored to the surface. I had the privilege of leading the 20-month exhaustive and in depth study that conclusively and technically proved that the buried river can be restored to the surface, initially through a large part of the town, and ultimately all the way. 

It proved to be an extremely popular recommendation, and it still continues to draw much interest and comment.

The move to a unitary authority delayed the plans for the town masterplan final phase and the associated WDC regeneration strategy, but it is heartening to see that our new unitary council has now commenced work upon that, albeit with a limited budget, so the good news of additional government funding specifically for Wycombe town centre is a game changer and lifeline.

The relatively modest additional cost of restoring the river with the planned road improvements can now be easily met from this ring fenced new funding and with the hitherto designated, but unspent CIL (Community Infrastructure Levy) monies. 

It is to be hoped that our new council will listen to and engage with the public who rightly wish to see the very heart of our town given new life, focus and vitality.

Any regeneration of the town must be on a consultative basis, with full public participation, no more “laptop” solutions, and it has to revitalise the town centre in a way that restores the old attractiveness of the town, now that the traditional shopping patterns have changed so drastically.

The river is forever and it’s just waiting to again to play its part in our town.

Restoring that bright sparkling river to street level, with more green infrastructure would dramatically improve the town environment, bringing with it further regeneration and footfall. 

Our town will continue to decline unless a really dramatic change is implemented soon.

Cllr Hugh McCarthy, High Wycombe

‘Covid courtesy costs nothing’

It seems that during these pandemic times of masks, self isolation, distancing, that common courtesy has been forgotten.

Masks and self isolation would appear to be self explanatory, supermarkets could do more (no mask/no entry) but why do some make it so difficult and fail to acknowledge you when one gets out of the way? 

Could there not be an unwritten rule that when possible, on pavements, you walk against the traffic so you step into the road if someone is coming toward you as you can see the traffic and that you should expect them to say thank you? Is it so difficult? Apparently so.

And across all age ranges. If someone moves out of the way for you, say ‘thank you’. Courtesy costs nothing.

And why are some so discourteous as to just discard masks or tissues wherever for someone else to pick up? 

Masks/tissues are litter and should be disposed of properly.

Name and address withheld 

A touching poem of hope

That’s it Covid vaccine – I’ve been done, 

What a relief I’ve had number one, 

I had a little cry of pure relief, 

Perhaps soon turn over a brand new leaf, 

Number two we will have to wait, 

When all have been done we will get a date, 

Then perhaps we will be able to live again, 

Go on holiday to Portugal, The Maldives, or Spain, 

Or go to the seaside and sit in the sun, 

And mix with more people, not just one, 

What a sad year it has been for people who have lost, 

Friends and relatives the pain it has cost, 

We have never seen a year like this before, 

Lets hope we never see anything like it for ever more, 

And get back to the things we love to do, 

Like gardens holidays countryside and even the barbecue.

Christine Slater, address withheld

Hospital shuttle service details

If you need to use public transport to attend clinics at Amersham Hospital, the bus service is still running to and from the hospital, via a shuttle bus replacement service. 

Due to the current HS2 construction having necessitated the closure of the normal bus route along Whielden Street in Old Amersham, passengers need to disembark at the bottom of Gore Hill in Old Amersham (opposite Tesco) and join the Amersham Hospital Shuttle Bus service, which takes you right up to Amersham Hospital. 

If in doubt, ask your bus driver to alert you when to disembark and where to wait for the replacement service shuttle bus, which is a minibus, which has illuminated destination signage. 

I was dismayed to read the letter entitled ‘Thank you to good Samaritans’ from your reader Elizabeth Porter in the BFP letters page of January 22, where this 81-year-old lady accepted a lift back home to High Wycombe from complete strangers because she thought there was no bus service. 

Fortunately, this lady’s faith in the inherent good nature of the majority of the human race was vindicated on this occasion, as she really did encounter good Samaritans who, it appears, went out of their way to deliver her home safely.

But her plight drew me to researching why she had not been aware of the the Amersham Hospital Shuttle Bus replacement service. 

This prompted me to do a Google search for myself, where the only helpful information available appears to be via a voluntary website set up by the HS2AAG - an action group committed to holding HS2 Ltd to task over their failings to adhere to construction guidelines or to keep their so-called promises about keeping the public informed. 

It was HS2AAG who were instrumental in forcing HS2 Ltd to initiate the Amersham Hospital Shuttle Bus service. 

When the road closure was first proposed by HS2 Ltd, they offered no bus replacement and expected patients to walk from the Tesco roundabout to the hospital and back.

Hoping to provide additional web links to include in this letter, to assist your readers in finding more details from local bus service providers’ timetables, I carried out a quick Google search of bus service providers’ websites, as well as the Bucks Healthcare NHS link to accessing Amersham Hospital, but there was no information about the temporary disruption or needing to disembark from the regular bus in Old Amersham in order to board the shuttle bus. 

Bucks County Council and Amersham Town Council did previously have links to the replacement bus service on their websites, but these appear to have expired, possibly due to changes to their websites since Bucks unitary council authority was formed. 

In addition, if anyone who works for the NHS eye clinics at Amersham Hospital is reading this letter, please can you raise awareness with your colleagues that patients with sight problems, likewise anyone elderly or having had eye treatment that could affect their vision temporarily, would benefit from extra information or assistance to help them catch the shuttle bus replacement service for their homeward journey.

Penny Wilson, Amersham

‘A lot of money for nothing’

One must ask why all the district councillors were transferred to Bucks Council? We were told that the unitary authority would save a lot of money.

It is stated that the aim is to reduce the number of councillors from 202 down to 147. 

If the elections are postponed for six months then it will cost £325 for these extra 55 councillors. 

That is a lot of money for nothing. 

Considering the very generous allowances these councillors get would it not be possible to cut the numbers down to 100? 

Virtually all the councillors have been on the council for many years and have no new ideas to offer what are the ratepayers getting out of this?

It is even more important in Bucks were we can say for certain that the same councillors will be returned after the election, that the need for the high number of councillors needs to be questioned. 

Karoline Lamb, address withheld

A Covid poem - ‘It is alive and real’

Covid has killed over 100,000,

Like the sands on the beach,

Lives washed away,

Their memory in their loved ones heart will forever stay, 

Each one was someone’s daughter, someone’s son, 

Someone’s caring grandma, someone’s funny grandad,  

Lives now left empty and sad,

Someone’s loved parent has passed away, 

They did not live this year to see the month of May, 

Someone’s dear friend is no longer here,

Someone’s heart is left in misery and fear,

100,000 is a number,

Each number was a real person,

Now left behind are lives broken and encumbered,

Covid is not fake but alive and real, 

Don’t insult neither underestimate the pain people feel.

Annice Thomas, address withheld

Help with book about princesses 

I am researching some local history in the Buckinghamshire area for a book I am writing.

It is on three Indian princesses that lived on Hammersley Lane in Penn. 

The daughter of the last ruler of the Punjab, Maharajah Duleep Singh, namely Princess Bamba, Princess Catherine and Princess Sophia Duleep Singh, resided at Hilden Hall and Rathenrae House in Penn between the years c.1906-57. 

They played a vital role in the Suffragette movement. The youngest, Sophia, was a god-daughter of Queen Victoria.

Princess Catherine saved many Jewish people from Nazi Germany during WW2 and housed many of the refugees at her house at Hilden Hall.

I would like to hear from anyone who knew of the princesses or their family, i.e. friends, relatives or acquaintances. 

I am keen to hear from anyone who may have any photographs, letters or any other items of interest associated with the family.

I would be grateful for all the help you may be able to provide. You can write directly to me.

Peter Bance, 110-112 Palmerston Road, Walthamstow, London, E17 6PZ