Mechanical demolition of the High Wycombe multi-storey began on 7 September. A section of Birdcage Walk is shut, and the site is allocated for 160 homes.

Machines began pulling down the Easton Street multi-storey car park in High Wycombe on Monday 7 September. Buckinghamshire Council has appointed the demolition contractor Coleman Group, which took the site over a fortnight ago and has spent that time stripping it out and boarding it off.

The first thing most people will notice is on foot, not on the road. A section of Birdcage Walk, along the northern edge of the site, is closed, with a signed alternative route for pedestrians and blue hoarding along the boundary.

The council set out the position in a project update published on 4 September. It says the demolition “marks the next stage in the site’s transition” and will “help unlock and explore opportunities to improve connectivity within this part of the town centre”.

What has happened on site

The council’s update gives the sequence:

  • Coleman Group began mobilising on 24 August, installing site hoarding and welfare facilities and isolating services.
  • Site security was fully in place by the end of that week.
  • Internal strip-out and waste removal started on 1 September.
  • Scaffolding went up on the southern and eastern sides of the structure.
  • Mechanical demolition was scheduled to begin on 7 September, starting with controlled drop zones and preparing the structure to come down.

The council has not published a completion date. It says further updates, including programme information, will follow “as key milestones are reached”. Questions about the works go to the project team at ehscp@buckinghamshire.gov.uk.

What replaces it

The car park has been shut for some time, and the council’s own car park page still says simply that it “is now closed”, pointing drivers to the Wycombe Swan and Railway Place instead.

It is not coming back as a car park. The site is HIW04 in the draft Local Plan for Buckinghamshire, allocated for 160 homes and about 660 square metres of flexible floorspace. That plan went through its final round of consultation over the summer and has not yet been examined, so the allocation is a proposal rather than a permission.

The wider picture is that most of High Wycombe’s housing allocation is the town centre rebuilding itself. Five town-centre sites, HIW03 to HIW06 and HIW08, account for 1,255 of the 2,761 homes allocated across the town, and every one of them is a car park, a shop or an office block. The full list is in High Wycombe planning news.

The Eastern Quarter

Easton Street sits in what the council calls the Eastern Quarter, and three things are moving there at once.

Key dates in the High Wycombe town centre programme Timeline: the refurbished Tesco on Denmark Street opened on 19 February 2026; Coleman Group took over the Easton Street site on 24 August 2026; internal strip-out began on 1 September 2026; mechanical demolition began on 7 September 2026; Buckinghamshire Archives closes to visitors in Aylesbury on 1 October 2026; the new council offices and archives open on Denmark Street in spring 2027. High Wycombe town centre: what is booked Buckinghamshire Council announcements, February 2026 to spring 2027 19 Feb 2026 Refurbished Tesco reopens on Denmark Street 24 Aug 2026 Coleman Group takes over the Easton Street site 1 Sep 2026 Internal strip-out begins 7 Sep 2026 Mechanical demolition begins. Birdcage Walk section closed 1 Oct 2026 Archives close to visitors in Aylesbury for the move Spring 2027 Council offices and county archives open on Denmark Street Sources: Buckinghamshire Council Highways Highlight updates, council news releases and archives service pages. Graphic by Wycombe Today

The council’s offices on Queen Victoria Road were put on the market in September 2025, after a 2024 decision to move council operations to Denmark Street. That site is allocated for 150 homes, aimed at NHS key workers, plus about 500 square metres of offices, retail and healthcare.

On Denmark Street, the refurbished Tesco reopened on the ground floor on 19 February 2026, freeing the floors above for new council offices and the county archives, both due to open in spring 2027.

The council says it has already spent £3.1 million on the White Hart Street area and that more than £15 million is going into High Wycombe overall, alongside the conversion of the former Liberal Club to house the Wycombe Museum chair collection, the Brunel Shed, the new Buckinghamshire College campus, a CCTV upgrade and the Sunday markets.

What it means for you

  • On foot: avoid the closed section of Birdcage Walk. The signed alternative route is in place while the demolition runs.
  • Parking: Easton Street is gone for good. The council’s alternatives are the Wycombe Swan and Railway Place. Both charge £1.30 all day on Sundays and bank holidays, and Railway Place is £6.80 for a full weekday. Handy Cross park and ride is cheaper at £4.30 for 24 hours. Full tariffs are on parking in High Wycombe.
  • Noise and dust: the council says works are being managed to limit the impact on neighbouring occupiers. Complaints and questions go to the project mailbox rather than the general contact centre.
  • Traffic: nothing on the road network is closed for the demolition. Live closures are on High Wycombe roadworks and travel.
  • If you want a say on the 160 homes: that comes later, at a planning application. The Local Plan allocation only sets the principle.

Sources