We are heartened to learn that Mr Gove’s Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, due to return to parliament next week, will see an emphasis on a community-led, green and regenerative planning system.
Mr Gove said “new development must have the support of local communities”, and the government was “now going further by strengthening our commitment to build the right homes in the right places and put local people at the heart of decision-making”.
We also welcome news that Government will review processes for prioritising brownfield land.
For years, local people have been contesting environmentally damaging plans to build on the publicly owned woodlands and greenspace of Maidenhead Golf Course.
It is wholly unsustainable to build on park land with thousands of mature trees, vital for mitigating the effects of climate change.
This land should remain publicly owned green open space so that it can continue to provide a place for biodiversity, water storage, pollution absorption, shade, carbon sequestration and amenity.
We hope there will now be an obligation to use up-to-date evidence to set house building targets, rather than using out of date projections for housing need.
RBWM’s Borough Local Plan uses 2012 projections for housing need, shown to be unrealistically high by the 2021 census.
As a result of our legal challenge of the Borough Local Plan, Mr Gove is well aware of our campaign to save the golf course from development, and we’re sure cases like ours have shone a spotlight on the unstainable nature of the planning rules our council has been adhering to.
We will be watching over the next few weeks as details are announced and although these changes to the planning system will arrive too late to influence RBWM’s Borough Local Plan, it is not too late for our council to recognise the damage building on the golf course will do to our environment and community, and to remove the golf course from the plan.