Targets changed, so did my party allegiance

On the train to London last Friday, it saddened me to hear a man on his phone saying that he’d thought Maidenhead was a nice town by the Thames, but that it looked absolutely horrible.

It’s hard to disagree.

Of course, the towers in the town centre are still under construction and once completed, may well look fabulous.

That Maidenhead needs regeneration is beyond doubt.

But the sheer scale – and height – of what is happening makes me feel I’m living in an inner London borough.

And with the greatest respect to inner London boroughs, it’s not why I moved to Maidenhead.

So, you might think it was good to hear reported on March 7 that the council leader is requesting ‘flexibility’ on the proposed number of homes scheduled to be built under the Borough Local Plan, given Michael Gove is making housing targets advisory, not compulsory.

And yet the same council has been sticking doggedly to the 2012 Objectively Assessed Housing Need (OAHN) – despite those numbers being significantly reduced by the 2018 OAHN, leading the opposition to accuse him of ‘cynical electioneering’.

As a previously Conservative voter, I’m with the opposition.

And then there’s the golf course.

Anyone who doesn’t live on the boundaries of the site may well feel the planned construction won’t affect them.

But once 1,800 are built (and with the increased number of cars this would bring onto our already congested roads), if you’re trying to reach the station or town centre – especially in the morning or evening rush hour – from Cox Green or White Waltham, good luck.

So, the man on the train last Friday made me think – what are we, a nice town by the Thames, or something he described as looking absolutely horrible?

The only faith I have in a change to the current mantra of build, build, build, anywhere and everywhere, is that the upcoming elections on May 4 produce a long overdue new leadership at the council, that will pause and re-examine the Borough Local Plan so we can ensure that whilst the necessary regeneration happens, the character of Maidenhead is not ruined any fur ther.

It’s not too late. But it soon will be. RICHARD MATTHEWS

Oldfield