Come to our consultation event 22 Feb
Following the designation of Maidenhead golf course by the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead (RBWM) as an Asset of Community Value (ACV), we’re planning a community consultation drop-in event at Larchfield Community Centre on Saturday 22 February 2025, 10am to 4pm.
As a result of the golf course’s designation as an Asset of Community value, our council cannot sell the land, or any part of it, without first giving the community the option to bid for it.
We’d like the people of Maidenhead and anyone else who has an interest in protecting greenspace and wildlife, to come to our community consultation event with their ideas for the best use of this land and to help us find a way forward to finance the protection of this land for future generations.
At our Community Consultation event, we’ll present three broad suggestions for the way the land could be used in the future:
- As Nature Reserve and place for environmental education and rewilding, attracting Biodiversity Net Gain credits from other local developments and nature protection grants from government and charitable trusts;
- As a community park with a golf course, attracting commercial revenues as well as Biodiversity Net Gain credits and grants for the improvement of the woodland areas for nature; or
- As a community park and wildlife corridor (connecting Braywick to Ockwells), paid for by allowing a portion of the land to be developed for housing in a sustainable and environmentally sensitive way.
We’re looking for experts in fundraising, land management for biodiversity, parks and public open spaces. We’re also looking for people who want to join our campaign group to help spread the word about this opportunity to save a wonderful area of publicly owned green and wooded open space for the benefit of future generations.
Around 40 per cent of the 132 acres of publicly-owned land at Maidenhead golf course is woodland, including five acres of ancient woodland at Rushington Copse.
The woodlands and green space at Maidenhead golf course provide important habitats for wildlife, including protected species like owls, bats and kestrels. As well as destroying wildlife habitats, the development of Maidenhead golf course will significantly increase traffic, air pollution, drought and flood risk in Maidenhead.
Cala’s outline planning application has yet to be heard
Our council has entered into an agreement with Cala Homes to develop 1,500 homes at Maidenhead golf course. The outline planning application has yet to be heard, but a date for the hearing is likely to be set in February or March.
RBWM hasn’t yet sold any of the land to Cala Homes and when it does sell the land, it will be done in phases, so we’ll have the opportunity to bid for the land in sections.
If this major development goes ahead, the sensitive and rare ancient woodland at Rushington Copse will be quickly degraded as the current plans do not provide an adequate buffer zone, and underestimate the biodiversity value of this space.
Our flood risk, traffic and air pollution will increase and the opportunity will be lost for our community to make the most of this publicly owned land for carbon capture, pollution absorption, water storage, mental and physical health and wellbeing and nature recovery.
The Maidenhead Great Park campaign group’s Community Consultation drop-in will be held at Larchfield Community Centre, 39 Fane Way, Maidenhead SL6 2TN, from 10am until 4pm.
Please do come along to our event if you can. You can also comment here on this blog or email us at maidenheadgreatpark@gmail.com.
