Hiding behind central Government ‘orders’

Headlines in the Maidenhead Advertiser (March 9) report that RBWM council leader Andrew Johnson has written to Michael Gove MP, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, asking for a meeting to seek permission to reduce the number of homes planned in the Royal Borough.

He states that he has done this because the Government has relaxed the targets for the number of new homes that councils are required to provide.

The reason Councillor Johnson wants to reduce housing numbers is a vote-catching exercise ahead of the upcoming local council elections in May 2023.

He is concerned that residents will show their disapproval of the Borough Local Plan at the ballot box and that the Conservative Party will lose its majority.

Furthermore, it is not correct that the planned overdevelopment of the Royal Borough and particularly Maidenhead was forced upon the council by Government rules.

The targets set by the Government were not obligatory because flooding, greenbelt and Crown Land are recognised constraints in the National Planning Framework.

RBWM deliberately went for the maximum number of homes in an attempt to try to justify building 2,000 dwellings on Maidenhead Golf course and by so doing, overseeing the destruction 135 acres of wonderful greenbelt land.

They saw the golf course as their ‘Golden Egg’ that would provide them with millions of pounds.

Well, the pantomime season is over, and the residents of the Royal Borough will give their verdict in May.

It is also important to note that Theresa May, MP for Maidenhead, voiced her objections in 2014 to a proposal to build less than 1,000 homes on the golf course.

Sadly, she has been very quiet on the subject in recent times.

Furthermore, 4,500 residents petitioned RBWM to turn the golf course into a park, which could be enjoyed by both current residents and future generations.

GEORGE MIDGLEY

Walker Road Maidenhead