The owner of an independent café in West Wycombe says a two-month-long National Trust project that meant a loss of footfall was ‘worth it’ and ended up ‘bringing the village together’.

Amit Sisodia, who began managing The Apple Orchard on West Wycombe High Street in 2022, told the Free Press in June that he was worried about plans to suspend parking along the stretch and erect scaffolding in front of seven properties as part of a National Trust repairs project.

The heritage conservation charity put the measures in place, alongside temporary traffic lights at either end of the high street, while undertaking “external repairs and decoration” to the sites between July 6 and September 2.

After the work concluded earlier this week, those impacted by the eight-week project were able to assess whether the temporary loss of trade had been worth it – and, looking over the new beam panelling and smartened-up frontage, Mr Sisodia tended to think it had been.

(Image: West Wycombe Village/FB)

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The business owner, who runs The Apple Orchard with his wife, said: “The first couple of weeks after it started were definitely a bit tough. But ultimately, it really brought people together – a few shops were being affected by it, and we all helped each other by figuring out solutions like pointing customers back and forth."

Susie Chester, a local mum and chair of West Wycombe Pre-School also decided to expand the school's annual day-long treasure hunt to six weeks to encourage young participants and their families to visit shops and restaurants in the village impacted by the roadworks.

The treasure hunt ended up lasting for the whole school summer holidays – and, for Susie, was the perfect opportunity to “give back to the community in some way”.

(Image: Susie Chester)

Such examples of togetherness have helped Mr Sisodia look to the future with optimism: “Footfall is beginning to increase again now as people realise the high street is all open again. I think it’s nice, what they’ve done to those buildings – the village is looking beautiful at the moment because of it.

“It was always going to be a difficult period, especially in terms of letting our customers know what was happening. But, as my mum always says, everything happens for a reason.

"Maybe this reason was to bring everyone together. And it means we're prepared if something like it happens again. Everyone would be much better equipped."