Following the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead’s council meeting on 17 July, where the council responded to our latest petition calling for the protection of the greenspace and woodlands at Maidenhead golf course, we wrote the following letter:
Dear Cllr Werner, Leader of RBWM
RBWM’s response to our petition signed by over 2,000 local people, calling again for the protection of the woodlands and public open space at Maidenhead Golf Course, is letting down the people of Maidenhead both financially and morally.
Having petitioned RBWM on this issue for nearly five years, the Maidenhead Great Park campaign group was shocked to hear that the initial contract with Cala Homes “had a long-stop date of 31st August 2023, which would have meant that the Council could have withdrawn without facing penalties after that date if the golf club lease was not surrendered. However, in November 2022, just six months prior to the local elections, the previous administration agreed a variation to the contract that pushed back this longstop date”.
By November 2022, it was clear that the residents of Maidenhead and the wider Borough did not want this development to go ahead.
By this time, it was already evident this ‘deal’ was not going to deliver the £500 million fantasy figure to our council’s coffers (latest estimates are around £105 million). And going ahead with this plan was going to increase the council’s already significant debt by the need to develop the infrastructure first, currently estimated to cost over £100 million.
Yet not only was the Cala contract extended at this time, the golf club were offered an extra £4 million to stay until 2025, taking the bill to the tax payer bill up to £15.9 million.
Those in charge of these terrible deals must be held to account.
We want a full enquiry into who did what and when. The RBWM Property Company is being wound up, but are all those who played fast and loose with the public purse, exposing the borough’s finances to an intolerable level of risk, going to be held to account?
Surely it’s time to face the fact that it will be financially unwise not to back-out of the golf club deal?
You must explain to Cala Homes that the contract cannot be legally binding as the proper processes that protect public finances from being abused were not followed.
While these actions are fully investigated, we expect all work on the planning application to be halted.
In the meantime, we will continue to work with RBWM and all the stakeholders to take the steps needed to protect this precious publicly-owned area of ancient woodland and green space in our town.
Yours sincerely
Tina Quadrino, Chair of the Maidenhead Great Park group
It’s not too late to object to the planning application
Please do support our campaign by objecting to Cala Homes outline planning application to develop Maidenhead golf course. These plans that will lead to the cutting down of thousands of trees, devastating our local wildlife.
How to object
You can simply email planning@rbwm.gov.uk giving your reasons why you object to this planning application. Include the ref no 24/00091/OUT and give your full name and address.
Evidence of the ecological value of the golf course woodlands
We’ve published more information about the wildlife habitats and biodiversity of the golf course here https://maidenheadgreatpark.co.uk/ecology-reports-show-biodiversity-importance-of-maidenhead-golf-course-woodlands