I hope that readers have had a pleasant summer holiday, and are suitably reinvigorated.
I managed to get away for a week with my wife and young children towards the end of August, and – a much needed recharging of the batteries later – I feel more than ready to face the rigors of the new year.
It is a hangover, I assume, from my own schooldays that I tend to consider that the working year commences in September.
I know that train services continue to be of concern to the residents of Princes Risborough.
Later this month I will be meeting with the Town Council and Chiltern Railways to discuss the problems with overcrowding and timetabling.
Good transport links are fundamental not only to livelihoods but also to the quality of people’s lives, and I hope that the discussion will be a fruitful one.
I am also looking forward to visiting the Kop Hill motor show, after I have dropped into a meeting which will discuss Wycombe Council’s local plan.
Planning is an issue that generates a good deal of strong feeling and, as I have said previously, I want to ensure that it is understood that any housing expansion has to be undertaken with the best interests of the existing residents as its first principle.
Finally, it appears that, after much to-ing and fro-ing, that we finally have a date for the Dinton Wind Farm inquiry.
The credit for this must go to the strength of the campaign against the proposal and the local pressure which encouraged the authorities to go ahead with the inquiry before the government departments and councils go into purdah in advance of the General Election next year.
I hope that we get the outcome we are hoping for, but we will have to wait until January, when the hearing is scheduled, to get a feel as to its outcome.