‘Recent’ comments draw criticism

ROYAL BOROUGH: The cabinet member for planning has responded to claims that he has not been following resident concerns over Maidenhead Golf Club closely enough.

In a letter to the Advertiser last week, Cllr David Coppinger (Con, Bray) addressed the concerns around building 2,000 homes on the current site of Maidenhead Golf Club.

In the letter he stated: “…the golf course has been part of the Borough Local plan since the very beginning, and it is only relatively recently that concerns have been raised.”

This week, multiple readers have retorted that this is not true and questioned the level of communication within the council (see Viewpoint).

Several residents report that they recall more than 100 residents gathering at a meeting at SportsAble in March 2017 to discuss these concerns.

Though not at the 2017 meeting, Cllr Coppinger said he remembers attending a meeting two years ago to hear concerns about the BLP.

He said he has ‘no memory’ of anyone bringing up the golf course at that time.

Cllr Coppinger added that he thought it was likely that the Government would enforce following through on the BLP if the council did not approve it – as it has been so long in the making.

“Every single item on the plan has been challenged in front of the inspector, including the golf club,” he said. “If the inspection thinks it makes sense, the minister will think it makes sense.”

“We’re in a no-win position – we have to build on the greenbelt somewhere. Not building is not a choice.”

Cllr Coppinger was also criticised for stating in his letter that the planning inspector had ‘decided that the [local] plan is sound’ when the borough had not yet received the BLP back.

He has since clarified (see Viewpoint) that he should have stated the plan is with the Planning Inspectorate for ‘checking and verification’.