Marlow and Wycombe Parking Plans: Object by 25 September

Buckinghamshire Council wants to ban loading in Marlow town centre at any hour of the day, and to paint double yellow lines across a block of streets in High Wycombe. Both are set out in a statutory consultation that opened on Friday 28 August.

There are two deadlines, and missing the difference is easy. Objections to the parking order close at 11.59pm on Friday 25 September. Objections to the traffic calming proposed outside Portland House in High Wycombe close three weeks later, on Friday 14 October, because that part is made under different legislation and sits in a separate consultation.

The council has written to affected residents and says it will put notices up on the streets. Both sets of objections go to the same email address.

What would change in Marlow

The biggest change is to loading. Six stretches of West Street, High Street and Spittal Street currently carry a ban in three windows a day, Monday to Saturday: 8am to 9.30am, noon to 2pm, and 4.30pm to 6pm. The council proposes to replace that with “No Loading at Any Time”, seven days a week. The stretches are:

• West Street, from the zig-zags to the roundabout, both sides
• High Street, from the roundabout to outside No. 12, western side
• High Street, from the roundabout to outside No. 7, eastern side
• High Street, on the south-eastern traffic island
• Spittal Street, from the roundabout to just past the junction with Dukes Place
• Spittal Street, from the roundabout to just past the junction with Morris Place

Three further stretches of Spittal Street would move from the same three windows to a straight 7am to 7pm loading ban: from the Butcher’s Tap and Grill to the zig-zags near the B482 roundabout on the western side, from No. 20 to those zig-zags on the eastern side, and the western side of the B482 roundabout itself.

The rest of the Marlow proposals are smaller but not trivial:

• Quoiting Square loses two designations at once. The “Payment Parking Place 7am to 7pm, 24 hours, no return within 11 hours” and the “Permit Holders Only ML2” bays in front would both be removed.
• Two lengths of High Street, between No. 27 and No. 33 and between No. 44 and No. 46, change from “No Stopping Except Buses” at any time to “Bus Stop 7am to 7pm”. That is a relaxation outside those hours.
• New “No Waiting at Any Time” on the north-eastern traffic island in Spittal Street and on West Street between No. 23 and Nos. 25/27.
• New loading bans at any time on that same Spittal Street traffic island and on the stretch from the B482 roundabout to the pedestrian crossing.
• On Wethered Road, double yellow lines that have already been painted, from the Trinity Road junction eastwards to a point one metre past the church entrance, would be written into the traffic order. Painted lines are not enforceable unless the order covers them.

What would change in High Wycombe

The Wycombe half of the consultation is concentrated in one residential area, around Hughenden Avenue, Arnison Avenue, Bowerdean Road and Rowan Avenue.

New “No Waiting at Any Time” double yellow lines are proposed at:

• Hughenden Boulevard, left side and right side
• Hughenden Avenue, at its junctions with Brindley Avenue, Kelvin Close, Brunel Road and Fulton Close
• Arnison Avenue, at both junctions with Mayhew Crescent, and between Mayhew Crescent and Bowerdean Road
• Arnison Avenue and Hillview Road outside Portland House
• Hillview Road, southern side, from Hillview Gardens towards Arnison Avenue
• Arnison Avenue at the junction with Underwood Road
• Bowerdean Road at the junction with Rowan Avenue
• Rowan Avenue, up to No. 80 on both sides
• Bowerdean Road, up to No. 255 and No. 258

Hughenden Avenue at the junction with Hughenden Boulevard already has a “No Waiting Monday to Saturday, 8am to 6pm” restriction. That would become “No Waiting at Any Time”.

There is one addition rather than a removal. New 30-minute limited waiting bays, with no return within an hour, are proposed on Arnison Avenue and Hillview Road outside Portland House.

The traffic calming is the part with the later deadline. The council proposes:

• 75-millimetre-high speed cushions outside No. 265 and No. 282 Arnison Avenue
• a 75-millimetre-high raised speed table outside High Wycombe Tyres and Services Ltd

Those are made under sections 90A to 90D of the Highways Act 1980, not the traffic order, which is why they carry their own consultation and their own 14 October date.

Why the council says it is doing it

The statement of reasons gives the same two grounds for almost every location: “facilitating the passage on the road or any other road of any class of traffic (including pedestrians)” and “preserving or improving the amenities of the area through which the road or footway runs”.

The Wycombe work has a local backstory. The council’s own Totteridge and Bowerdean ward partnership is part of its Opportunity Bucks programme. Its action plan says: “We will work with the Highways Team to support the regeneration of Portland House (Arnison Avenue).”

The same plan lists what residents raised in the area:

• parking challenges
• pavement restoration
• new bollards
• pothole repairs
• raising the roundabout to deter dangerous driving
• clearing blocked drains

It also says traffic calming on Bowerdean Road is being investigated.

Arnison Avenue also runs past Mayhew Crescent, where a plan for six homes is already in the planning system. That application is covered in Mayhew Crescent six homes plan.

The third town in the consultation

The same order covers Chalfont St Giles, about eight miles east of High Wycombe. Two things are proposed there:

• a new disabled bay on the High Street outside the Chalfont Barber Lounge, with the existing one-hour limited waiting shortened to make room
• new double yellow lines at the Deanway and The Lagger junction

The council gives an extra reason for the bay: “To allow blue badge holders to park closer to shops they need access to.”

What it means for you

If you run a shop in Marlow town centre, the loading change is the one to read. A delivery that is currently legal between 9.30am and noon on the High Street would not be, if the “at any time” ban is made. On the three Spittal Street lengths moving to 7am to 7pm the picture is the opposite: those become legal again overnight and early morning.

If you park at Quoiting Square, both the paid parking place and the ML2 permit bays in front are proposed for removal. The notice does not say what replaces them, so if you rely on either, this is worth reading the plans for rather than taking on trust.

If you live off Arnison Avenue, Bowerdean Road, Rowan Avenue or Hughenden Avenue, the proposal removes on-street spaces at junctions and adds two speed cushions and a raised table. Object by 25 September for the lines and by 14 October for the humps.

If you have a blue badge, note the Chalfont St Giles bay is an addition, and the council’s stated reason is access to shops.

Objections must be in writing and must state the grounds they are made on. Email highways.consultations@buckinghamshire.gov.uk, marked for the Traffic Regulation Order Team, or respond through Your Voice Bucks. Marlow Town Council points out you do not have to respond to every proposal or every location. The plans can also be inspected by appointment at the council’s Walton Street offices in Aylesbury, HP20 1UA.

For what is already restricted, see parking in High Wycombe and the current roadworks and travel page.

Sources

• High Wycombe, Marlow and Chalfont St. Giles Restrictions 2026, Your Voice Bucks, the consultation itself, open 28 August to 25 September 2026.
• The consultation’s statement of reasons, for every location, the existing and proposed restriction and the grounds given.
• The consultation’s statutory newspaper notice, dated 28 August 2026, for the legislation used, the speed cushion and raised table details, the objection addresses and both deadlines.
• Totteridge and Bowerdean ward partnership action plan, Buckinghamshire Council for the Portland House regeneration commitment and the local issues raised.
• Consultation on parking amendments in Marlow, Marlow Town Council for the town council’s notice and its advice on responding.