On Wednesday 16 November 2022, a renewal hearing will take place in the High Court to decide whether a legal challenge of the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead’s (RBWM) Borough Local Plan (BLP), raised by local residents, should be heard in full.
On 22 March 2022, following a successful public fundraising campaign for the initial legal fees needed, the Maidenhead Great Park Community Interest Company promoted and funded filing for a statutory challenge of RBWM’s Borough Local Plan.
Unfortunately, the group’s solicitor made a procedural error in the serving of the papers and resigned from the case.
Tina Quadrino, Chair of the Maidenhead Great Park CIC, explains:
“The destruction of hundreds of acres of green belt and thousands of mature trees, as set out in the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead’s Borough Local Plan, to make way for housing targets that are based on out-of-date projections for housing need in our area, is simply unacceptable and will damage our environment and our community for many decades to come.
“Back in June, we were incredibly disappointed to learn, that despite the profoundly negative long-term consequences of our council’s Borough Local Plan for our community, the Judge decided that due to the procedural error the case could not proceed.
“We have since explored further legal avenues to try to get our case heard, to ensure that full scrutiny of the Borough Local Plan is undertaken. Working with new solicitors, we applied to the court for an extension to the timeframe for service seeking its discretion,
In July we were delighted to hear that the High Court had confirmed that we have the right to a renewal hearing, and we can now confirm the date for this hearing has been set for Wednesday 16 November.
“At this renewal hearing, we understand that the Judge will consider whether or not to forgive the procedural error, and then will consider whether the merits of our BLP arguments should be reviewed in full. We very much hope the Judge will reach a conclusion in our favour.
“We would like to thank everyone who has supported this ongoing legal challenge. Over 500 people have so far donated towards our work to protect greenspace and woodlands in our community.
“We continue to campaign for the protection of greenspace in our community, for the benefit of people and wildlife.
“We are planning a fourth demonstration outside Maidenhead Town Hall on Tuesday 22 November, from 6.00pm to 7.00pm, when our petition asking for improved air pollution monitoring will be heard.
“At the demonstration, we will again be urging our council to take steps to protect our publicly owned woodlands and greenspace from development and to take Maidenhead Golf Course out of the Borough Local Plan.
“We continue to raise funds for our legal challenge of the Borough Local Plan. We urge people to support us, even with small amounts of money, as it is important to demonstrate how many people in our community are against the environmentally damaging Borough Local Plan.
“To donate to our campaign, please go to https://www.gofundme.com/f/maidenhead-great-park”
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