We’d like to set the record straight regarding RBWM Council Leader Andrew Johnson’s letter to Michael Gove, Secretary of State for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, dated 28 February 2023, as reported in the Maidenhead Advertiser and Windsor Observer.
In his letter, Mr Johnson expresses his concern that RBWM’s Borough Local Plan (BLP), which he and his Conservative councillors voted to adopt on 8 February 2022, sets out development “on greenbelt sites to meet housing targets which, in reality, are being relaxed as part of the LURB [Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill].”
He could have written a letter like this to the Secretary of State, expressing his concern over the loss of greenbelt in our Borough, at any point during the protracted BLP consultation. The Planning Inspector even pointed out that the 2012 Objectively Assessed Housing Need (OAHN) had halved in 2018. Those projections could have been used instead.
We’d like Mr Johnson to explain the following:
1. Why is excessive development unfair and unequitable only now?
2. Why did his council fight tooth and nail to keep the 2012 OAHN when they had an opportunity to use 2018 figures?
3. How will the Council’s financial stability be impacted by the uncertainty that this letter presents to developers?
4. Why is the council still happy to build on the publicly owned woodlands and green space of Maidenhead Golf Course, when it will cost the taxpayer £16m to buy the golf club out of its lease and will consign the people of Maidenhead to even poorer air quality, and 10-15 years of construction traffic and disruption?
#EarthDay Candlelit Vigil, 18 April
If you are concerned about Maidenhead’s loss of trees and greenspace, please do come to our Vigil outside Maidenhead Town Hall on Tuesday 18 April, 5.30-8.50pm, to mourn the loss of our green belt. We will be there for 200 minutes, one minute for every acre lost. Do come along for as long as you can spare.
For more information, go to: https://maidenheadgreatpark.co.uk/come-to-our-candlelit-vigil-mourning-the-loss-of-our-green-belt