No quick fix for transport troubles in Marlow

"The buses here are horrible. I'm waiting for them all the time. Sometimes they come, sometimes they don't, which is pretty awful when you consider the recent weather," says widower Ann Mitchell.

Mrs Mitchell, 59, who lives in Churchill Drive, Marlow, sold her car two years ago following her husband's death in an effort to save money. Ever since she has been left battling with what she describes as Marlow's 'dreadful public transport system'.

She added: "My experience of public transport in this town is pretty horrendous. I have spoken to people who have waited more than two hours for a bus."

Mrs Mitchell can sometimes rely on a friend with a car to come and run her into town but she says: "My friend finds parking in the town both awkward and expensive."

Mrs Mitchell is not alone in her views. Transport in and around Marlow has been a hot potato for the past few years. In that time the only obvious changes in the town have been rises in parking charges. Last week's increases have led to a doubling of some short-stay tariffs.

Businesses have been asking, 'Where is a strategy to sort out the town's transport ills?' Without this, they ask how can a rise in parking charges be justified?

In late 1999 the county council, combined with Wycombe District Council, set out to produce a strategy for Marlow but progress has been painfully slow.

Colin Berks, president of Marlow's Chamber of Trade and Commerce, said: "We have not seen one document, one set of minutes from a meeting, or anything at all which explains the Marlow Parking and Transportation Strategy. Where is it and what is happening?"

County councillor Maurice Oram admitted that progress had been slow on the project. He said: "For once it is not a lack of money but a lack of staff resources. As I understand it there is a shortage of specialist staff to do all this work."

However Mr Berks claimed this to be just an excuse, adding: "The county council is being paid to sort these things out. They should get themselves organised."

Despite the slow progress a spokesman for the county council said the strategy is already being used as a basis for planned transport improvements in Marlow.

David Rowlands, chairman of the county council highways and transportation committee, added: "Particular attention is being given to a reappraisal of the town's waiting restrictions. Attention is also being given to a review of traffic movement on the Little Marlow Road with initial emphasis being given to the bypass and Parkway junction."

He added that a number of other issues currently being considered were safety schemes, safer routes to school, park and ride, green travel planning and improved cycling and walking routes.

Meanwhile at grass roots level, with timetables not being posted at bus stops, some traders have been left wondering exactly what is going on. Richard Hunt, owner of Hunt's Hardware in Spittal Street, said: "What is the good of having a bus service without timetables? It is like me opening my business and keeping my door shut and not telling anyone when I open."

Neither the bus company or the county council are responsible for providing bus timetables, but a spokesman for the county promised timetables were coming.

He added: "So far we have targeted large urban areas like High Wycombe and Aylesbury. The next step is to look at smaller towns like Marlow. A dotmatrix display system like in Wycombe is one of things we will need to look at."

Mr Hunt, who is a member of the town's chamber of trade, added that there was also a problem with people arriving in the town by train and having no alternative but to walk to their destination.

There is a taxi rank in Institute Road but drivers favour more lucrative sites in High Wycombe.

Mr Hunt said that through conversations he has had taxi drivers will only come if the rank is in a main street, like the High Street, and not a side a road.

With taxis having to be called out to Marlow the cost of travelling from the High Street to nearby Bourne End or Cookham Dean is £10.

Cllr Oram said: "Wycombe District Council give out the licences but they cannot order the taxi drivers to operate out of certain towns."

With regard to the irregularity of buses in the town Cllr Oram, who is a regular bus user, commented: "I rarely have a problem with public transport in Marlow. It could be improved upon but buses are late because traffic is heavy and until we get the management of traffic and bus lanes the buses will have to wait their turn with the traffic jams."

The elusive Marlow Parking and Transport Strategy is a long term framework to improve traffic and environmental conditions in the town over the next ten years, according to the county council. So, by 2010 Marlow should be freed of all its transport woes.... Watch this space.

Factfile on public transport

BUSES: The 329 and 328 travel between High Wycombe and Reading.

The two main stops are at Wiltshire Road and West Street.

Buses run approximately every half hour through the day and hourly in the evening.

The 328 is run by Reading Buses on (0118) 959 4000 and the 329 is run by The Wycombe Bus Company on (01494) 520941.

The Marlow Town Bus operates in the town on Tuesdays and Fridays but the timetable is under revision and is yet to be confirmed.

TRAINS: Thames trains runs the service from Marlow to London Paddington. For times on all these services check the Marlow Area Information Office in the High Street.

Parking is either 'appalling' or a 'joy'

ANN PITWELL, a Marlow resident, said she came to go out for a meal in Marlow on Saturday evening but was forced to drive home because she couldn't find a parking space. She added: "I don't understand the car parking charges. Why are they so high here? They just seem to keep going up. It will drive businesses and shoppers out of the town if they aren't careful."

DAVE HOWARTH, who lives in Speen, visits Marlow to shop occasionally. He said he found transport and parking in the town acceptable, adding: "I like the idea of a 30-minute charge. I have never had any problems parking here."

He added: "I have just got back from Egypt. You want to try travelling in towns over there. Coming to Marlow is quite a joy. It is all relative."

CHARLOTTE GENERY, 21, a florist from Stems in the High Street, called for resident-only parking to be introduced in some parts of the town.

She added: "I feel very sorry for the residents living in the back streets having to put up with people parking in front of their homes and not being able to get into their drives. Introducing some kind of resident parking would be a help."

JOHN REHILL, who was shopping in Marlow, said he found parking in the town appalling. He said: "Firstly there is not enough parking and secondly the rules don't seem to be enforced very regularly. The two public car parks should be for one hour only to encourage a quicker turn-over and keep things moving.

"The whole system needs to be better managed."

MICHELLE WASS, landlady at The Chequers pub in the High Street, said there weren't enough taxis.

She added: "It is a bit of a drama getting a taxi when the pubs shut and they are so expensive here. It is £10 to get to Bourne End and £8 to get into Marlow Bottom from the High Street. This is the most expensive place I have ever known for taxis and we once had a pub in the middle of Chelsea."