The Obelisk at the centre of the roundabout at the top of the High Street was erected in 1822, and originally used by travelling coaches as a waypoint marker. Over time, the obelisk has begun to deteriorate, with whole sections of the stone lettering breaking away.
Back in August, we reported on overnight investigation work that took place, prior to full repair work planned for later this year – expected to take 3 weeks, with related traffic control in place. We have now been notified that this work will be delayed until 2018 as per the details below:
The restoration of the obelisk using specialist contractors has been planned by Transport for Buckinghamshire (TfB), the relevant part of Bucks County Council. Initially the works were planned to erect scaffolding in the centre of the roundabout to undertake these specialist works in a safe manner, which would have necessitated temporary traffic management 24-hours a day throughout the course of the works. As the start date approached practical concerns were raised about this approach and other logistical alternatives are now being explored in order to keep disruption to a minimum, particularly during the busy Christmas period.
Mark Shaw, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Transportation supported the decision to postpone the work and said:
“TfB remains dedicated to completing the restoration of the obelisk in the shortest time possible and with the least disruption to the local area, which means it is now necessary to rethink the planning of the restoration and traffic management. It is hoped a new date will be set for Spring 2018.”
