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 two 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 (BNG) credits from other local developments and nature protection grants from government and charitable trusts; or
- As a park with sport and leisure facilities and woodland nature reserves, attracting commercial revenues as well as BNG credits and grants for the improvement of the woodland areas for nature.
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 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 is set to be heard on 13 February 2025.
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.
This event is just about to be included in the Events Diary of Wild Maidenhead which will reach our large membership.
I will be able to attend, representing both Wild Maidenhead and myself!
Thanks so much Martin – we look forward to seeing you there. Best wishes, Debbie.
We will always “need more” homes for people, but what about the grey and brown belt that we can use first? The empty properties? The Airbnbs that are empty for long periods of time and take away from residential living? Yes, development may be more expensive to convert instead of building from scratch, but the expense of removing ancient woodland is going to come at a much dearer price than just money…
Only when we are suffocating and starving due to a lack of biodiversity, thinner air and completely depleted soil will people start to listen. At that point, it’s no longer “too late” it is “game over”.
Greed has always been at the forefront of these decisions, NOT development. Development would enable retaining the vast majority of the woodland, and working around it. Instead, they wish to plough straight through. It is a mockery of rules and regulations when, if you are a large company, you can simply push through those rules. Ancient woodland protected? Not anymore. You can bet your bottom dollar however, that if I were to construct an extension on my property without approvals, I would be heavily fined and told to take it down.