Mapledean on Cressex Road is set to become High Wycombe's Best Start Family Hub from January 2027. The council's Leader is due to decide on 16 November.
Mapledean Family Hub on Cressex Road is recommended as High Wycombe’s Best Start Family Hub, with an enhanced service for young children and their families from January 2027. Buckinghamshire Council’s Leader is due to take the decision on Monday 16 November.
The hub would bring health visiting, early years, parenting and SEND support together under one roof. The council’s report says it would be the base for a network of other sites across the town, so families would not have to travel to one building.
Overview
- Where: Mapledean Family Hub, Cressex Road, High Wycombe, HP12 4PR.
- When: the enhanced offer starts from January 2027, if the Leader agrees on 16 November.
- Cost: about £78,000 of building work, done in phases, paid from a government grant.
- The other hubs: Castlefield, Hampden Way and Hithercroft stay open as network sites, but a wider review of all of them follows.
Why Mapledean
The council assessed all four of the town’s family hubs. Mapledean was the busiest in the county. Between June 2025 and June 2026 it ran 122 sessions and supported 1,849 families and 2,130 children, the report says.
Over the same year, the other three hubs supported:
| Hub | Families | Children |
|---|---|---|
| Castlefield | 727 | 826 |
| Hampden Way | 697 | 819 |
| Hithercroft | 408 | 576 |
The report says Castlefield and Hampden Way serve some of the most deprived communities in the county, with some of the weakest early years results. Hampden Way ranked lowest in Buckinghamshire for the share of children reaching a good level of development by the end of Reception.
Neither building suits the full model, the report says. Castlefield’s layout and shared use limit room for other services to move in. Hampden Way is too small to grow. Hithercroft is used for other council priorities, including provision for children with education, health and care plans.
Both Castlefield and Hampden Way stay “priority areas” for targeted work.
The area Mapledean serves
The report sets out the need in the Booker and Cressex ward:
- 13% of children aged 0 to 19 live in absolute low-income families
- 36.3% of pupils have a first language other than English
- 67.7% of children reached a good level of development in 2025
- the ward has the highest youth unemployment rate of the areas assessed
The targets behind it
The government has set every council a target for the share of children reaching a good level of development by the end of Reception. Buckinghamshire’s are:
- from 71.4% in 2024/25 to at least 80% by 2027/28
- for children on free school meals, from 46.9% to at least 59.2%
The council has been allocated £4.7 million for its Best Start in Life programme from 2025/26 to 2028/29. The Mapledean work comes out of that grant, and the report says no extra council money is needed.
The county’s first Best Start Family Hub, at Elmhurst, opened in April 2026. Another is being developed in Burnham.
What it means for you
If you already use Mapledean, its drop-ins run Monday to Thursday, 9am to 5pm, and Fridays, 9am to 4pm, according to the hub’s page. All its activities are free.
From January 2027 more services would be based there, with building work carried out in stages that may run beyond the launch.
If you use Castlefield, Hampden Way or Hithercroft, nothing changes under this decision. But the council will now review all family hub provision across High Wycombe, including “the future role of each existing Family Hub”. The report says any significant change found by that review would be consulted on before a decision.
There was no public consultation on choosing Mapledean. Ward councillors and the High Wycombe Town Committee were briefed. The decision page lists it as open for representations before 16 November, and the decision can be called in by councillors afterwards.
Sources
- Buckinghamshire Council, Best Start Family Hub Designation, High Wycombe, report EC07.26 for Leader decision on 16 November 2026, published 6 November and read 13 November 2026, for every figure in this story.
- Buckinghamshire Family Information Service, Mapledean Family Hub, read 13 November 2026, for the address and drop-in times.
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