Following the closure of our petition, on Tuesday 2 March we put forward a motion to our council at their Extraordinary Full Council meeting.
Cllr Geoff Hill asked the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead to protect the whole area of parkland currently leased by Maidenhead Golf Club, so that it continues to provide a vital green lung and public amenity for our community, and future generations.
Tina Quadrino, our lead petitioner, had five minutes to argue passionately for this green belt land to be saved from development by our council, who plan to put over 2,000 new homes there. The motion was then debated, but unfortunately it was narrowly defeated by 20 votes against, vs 19 for.
Cllr Geoff Hill of Oldfield ward, explains:
“Sadly our motion to save this greenspace from development was defeated by just one vote, but we are encouraged by the level of support from our councillors, and will continue to fight to save this greenspace for our community.”
Lead petitioner Tina Quadrino, adds:
“We are extremely disappointed that our motion was not upheld by our council, but we will continue to campaign for the protection of this vital greenspace for our community. We now eagerly await the planning inspector’s decision as she considers the Borough Local Plan and whether or not to give our council permission to build on this precious green belt land.
“Access to local greenspace that we can walk or cycle to, is vital for our physical and mental health and wellbeing, and for reducing carbon emissions. And if it stays green, we can plant more trees, and improve wildlife habitats to support local biodiversity.”
You can watch a recording of the meeting via the council’s YouTube channel: fast forward to 20:25 to the petition section; 26:30 to hear Tina Quadrino’s speech; 33:35 to hear Cllr Hill presenting the motion; and 1hr22 to hear Cllr Taylor’s representation. https://www.youtube.com/user/WindsorMaidenhead
We will keep you updated on the next steps planned to gather support to save this greenspace.
Well-fought! This is and has always been about the council making money due to their own ineptitude. With the requirement for housing development numbers being vastly diminished there is absolutely no need for this beautiful green-space to be concreted-over.
With a limp victory of just one vote in favour of development, this can still be quashed.
All Maidonians need to let the council know that this is a vital part of our heritage, one that we must preserve for our children and essential for wildlife and biodiversity.
Thanks for this message Hayley, and for your continued support.
Please write to your local Cllr and to your local MP again and tell them that you do not want them to adopt the Borough Local Plan because it does not do enough to meet the climate emergency that we face.
We don’t stop fighting this until the concrete is poured…. if it gets that far!!