John Hudson, former Chairman of the Berkshire Branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), explained at our demonstration last night, why our council is so desperate to develop the golf course.
You can watch John’s speech here, or see his words below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kctByGQRPl4
The main reason that the council is so desperate to develop the golf course is financial.
They are massively in debt, and this is expected to reach £250 million by the end of the year.
The development of the golf course would result in payments to the council by their development partner – CALA Homes – of around £225 million – almost wiping out their huge debts.
The main reason for this huge debt is the history of low council tax, which forms the majority of the council’s income.
Their Leader Andrew Johnson, and his predecessor Simon Dudley, have proudly claimed that our council tax is the lowest in the county – between £300 and £500 lower than neighbouring councils.
This is not something to be proud of, it is something to be ashamed of.
Mr Johnson has stated, unbelievably, that this is also one of the most efficient councils. With a debt approaching £250 million, I would not describe that as being efficient.
I wonder where Mr Johnson learnt his economic and financial management skills?
In 2012 the Government’s assessment of our housing need was for 12,691 new homes.
In 2018, using updated data, the planning inspector pointed out that our assessment for housing need had halved to 6,382 new homes.
Six thousand new homes have already been built, or given planning permission. So based on the 2018 assessment, this only leaves 382 homes remaining to be built by 2033.
Our council doggedly refuses to budge from the 2012 figures.
Not only that – they’ve even added a couple of thousand more new homes to help out a neighbouring borough!
So our council’s provision in the Borough Local Plan is for a massive 16,435 new homes. That’s two and a half times higher than the government assessment in 2018.
Despite the pandemic and the climate emergency that we face, Mr Johnson has made no attempt to change the course set by Simon Dudley.
With Captain Johnson at the helm, the SS RBWM Titanic is heading for that big iceberg lurking in the fog – the 2023 local elections.
In the event that the Borough Local Plan is approved, including development of Maidenhead Golf Course, the RBWM Titanic will crash head-on into that iceberg, and we all know what happened to the Titanic.