Desire to create a pocket park

Maidenhead: Councillor wants to transform meadow

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A lead councillor has vowed to turn a Maidenhead meadow into a ‘wonderful natural space’ after a developer abandoned plans for 80 homes there.

CALA Homes wanted to develop on land to the south of Ray Mill Road East but the plans proved controversial due to the site being located on a floodplain.

Planning applications came and went and were eventually approved in November against officer recommendations, but they were later called in by the Secretary of State over flooding fears.

A public inquiry was planned but last week,

CALA Homes said it had withdrawn its application ahead of the hearing as it did not see new housing as ‘compatible’ on the land.

This was because the adoption of the Borough Local Plan (BLP) in February had allocated the site to become a green infrastructure space, namely a ‘pocket park’.

In a letter to Viewpoint this week (see p27), lead member for parks and countryside at the Royal Borough, Cllr David Coppinger (Con, Bray), said he wants to

take ‘full advantage’ of the land.

“In my new job, one of the most exciting things is to create a pocket park but ensuring that every single local resident has their say in what that looks like,” he told the Advertiser.

“We have got to carry everybody with us – nothing will happen to that site until consultation with residents so we can make sure that what we are going to propose meets their needs.

“But it must also meet the needs of climate change.”

Cllr Coppinger added that residents have ‘felt like they weren’t listened to’ with some past projects, ‘although we have created some fantastic things’.

“So I really want to make sure that every single person has an opportunity to say what they think it should be,” he said.

Cllr Coppinger confirmed that officers are now drawing up ideas about what Deerswood Meadow should become.

“I want to improve it and make it available for all,” he said. “It really is quite a wonderful place. I am determined to get this right – it is so unusual to have an opportunity like this.”

Campaigners against the development have included the Maidenhead Liberal Democrat group, who have called on Deerswood

Meadow to be protected legally from any future developments.

The opposition group has accused the Conservatives of ‘u-turning’ after plans were narrowly voted through at November’s meeting.

In response to Cllr Coppinger’s comments, Cllr

John Baldwin (Lib Dem, Belmont) said: “We will take part rigorously in any consultation that we are invited to take part in, but if this is just going to be some greenwashing exercise, then I am not interested.

“They knew that once the BLP was formally adopted, it would be impossible to get planning permission.

“Had it not been for us and the residents, there would be 80 homes on that site. That was their intention.”