A COUNCILLOR has hit out at suggestions that a town council is not needed in High Wycombe saying this tier of authority takes pride in their communities.

Princes Risborough Town Councillor, Walford Woolf, wrote to the Free Press in response to Tony Green's letter last week where he said a town council was not needed for High Wycombe.

Cllr Green, who is a Wycombe District Cllr and on the High Wycombe Town Committee, said an extra layer of government would cause confusion.

And he referenced the argument on Princes Risborough Town Council about the by-election, adding this council has increased its share of the council tax by 28% over the past ten years compared to Wycombe town, where the precept has risen 18%.

Cllr Woolf wrote to the Free Press: "Cllr Green has had something against Princes Risborough ever since it turned against his beloved Conservative party and began voting Independent councillors onto WDC some five years ago, and his letter in the BFP last week continues his rather spiteful campaign against us at Princes Risborough Town Council."

He said High Wycombe is a mess without a town council and criticised the untidy plant pots outside Sainsbury's, which give a bad impression on the town.

He said: "You wouldn't see that in Risborough, Marlow or Aylesbury where the town council's take pride in their communities for residents and visitors enjoyment alike."

Cllr Green told the Free Press he just used PRTC as an example, and it was not an attack at the individual council.

He said: "I know Cllr Woolf and his colleagues always get upset when I compare the cost of living in High Wycombe compared to the cost of living in Princes Risborough.

"It is a basic fact...Part of the cost is due to the fact they have a town council and an extra layer of bureaucracy. It is nothing to do with who runs the council or what the politics of it are.

"I believe that extra layer of council costs more money, whether it be in Princes Risborough or Aylesbury."

He said he has looked into the plant pots outside Sainsbury's and it is the responsibility of the supermarket, and the town committee has no power over it.