A VILLAGE has been forgotten once again according to a councillor as a bid is made for a transport scheme pot.

Bucks County Council (BCC) has submitted bids to government for funds to work on road schemes across the county - with the exception of Iver.

The village has been blighted by heavy goods vehicle (HGV) movements and impending large infrastructure projects, and there have long been calls for a relief road to ease the strain on the village's rural roads.

BCC has bid for more than £42m from the government's £1.8bn Local Growth Fund and from the £425m Department for Transport pot.

South Bucks District Councillor Paul Griffin, who represents Iver Village and Richings Park, said: "How long have we been trying to campaign for a relief road? Our comments appear to have fallen on deaf ears and it is only in the last 12 to 18 months that anybody has paid any attention to Iver.

"It could have been done 10 to 15 years ago if we had the right people in office and people paid attention to us. But we should be grateful that we now have a degree of focus."

Residents attended in their hundreds to a public meeting last month for them to view all of the plans that could affect the area, including the relocation of the Heathrow Express Depot (HEx) and the Western Rail Link to Heathrow (WRLtH).

Cllr Griffin added: "All credit to the number of residents who turned out to the meeting - perhaps we are near to getting something sorted out.

"But the problems are getting worse on a daily basis. Councillors can gestate and shout and scream all they want but it needs the residents to support that."

BCC leader, Martin Tett, has written to Cllr Griffin explaining that Iver was not included in the bid as there is not the evidence base to support a bid for funding for a relief road.

He said: "The county council certainly does recognise the problems in Iver.

"Funds would need to be bid for from central government or developers. We need a firm evidence base to support any such bids.

"Central government will want to see evidence that any funding unlocks new housing or business sites. Developers will also not wish to contribute to correcting historic infrastructure deficits.

"The county council has initiated a transport study to provide the evidence base for any such bids. Without this, bids stand little chance of success."

The schemes that are part of BCC's bid include a new link road in Aylesbury, road improvements at Cressex Business Park in High Wycombe and improvements to the A418 corridor near Aylesbury.