letter in today’s Maidenhead Advertiser Your Easter surprise, Cookham Rise to double in size. Pinkneys Green obliterated. 2500 new homes.
Just two headlines from a report, that a resident forced RBWM conservative council to release, which will form the basis of the next local plan if they are re-elected, completed over 6 months ago and then buried presumably to avoid a preelection backlash. It appears just weeks after the council leader indicated we don’t need all the houses in the current plan.
The reports are jaw dropping, clearly identified greenbelt land allocations, with indicative dwelling numbers. White Waltham 1300, Burchetts Green 1200, Cox Green 400 Holyport 4500, Paley Street 10400 with Pinkneys Green 1000. Cookham is allocated 1500 homes including those adopted last week in the Lower Mount Farm stakeholder master plan. The 57.1 additional hectares (they considered 4 times that to fill-in between Cookham and Maidenhead) sited on the farmland adjacent to those now approved. That will double the size of Cookham Rise and is equivalent to the light green area of Greenbelt on Google Earth, approximately a quarter of a mile by one mile. North of Pound Lane Cookham, only 24 of us cared to comment on the existing 200-home consultation, does 1500 motivate you to be interested? The lead for planning at last week’s meeting stated Cookham didn’t need more doctors or dentists as there was slack and young school children could spill over into the, yet to be built, Spencers Farm school in Maidenhead. There was no response to the issue of gridlocked traffic raised by a resident.
Perhaps an emergency meeting this month is needed before the elections on May 4th. Councillor Clark was a cabinet member through all this undercover work over 4 years so he should be able to explain it all to us. It is true that the numbers and locations are indicative, and no firm decisions are apparently yet taken. That was true for this current local plan once and see what happened.
If you don’t want decimation of your villages or borough, then understand and take a view, challenge your prospective councillors on their electioneering door knocks, and vote accordingly.
Report can be found on RBWM website
https://www.rbwm.gov.uk/home/planning/planning-policy/non-development-plan/duty-cooperate/wider-area-growth-studyclick “Full Part 2 study”, (Cookham page 87, Pinkneys Green page 88 )
Sorry to make you all choke on your Easter Eggs
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