Making a mockery of consultation process

No doubt residents will have seen Cllr Johnson’s letter to the Rt Hon Michael

Gove MP requesting a reduction in the housing numbers contained in the Borough Local Plan (BLP).

The 2016 BLP was initially based on the 2012 government predicted housing figures and that is how the BLP target of 14,240 dwellings was arrived at.

This was a 100 per cent figure that could have been negotiated down by RBWM due to ‘local factors’.

These factors were Crown land, flood plain and greenbelt.

RBWM chose not to seek a reduction and so the BLP was started using the 14,240housing figure, with units to be built over the 20-year plan period (2013 to 2033).

National Housing Numbers, recalculated in 2018, halved the projected requirement but sadly the BLP was not modified by RBWM to reflect the reduction and in actual fact the final BLP, voted on in 2021, contained at least 1,708 extra dwellings over and above the 2012 figure.

So here we have it.

The BLP, as seen today, has nearly 10,000 extra dwellings in it.

These unnecessary buildings will be built on precious greenbelt land.

The BLP did not start its examination until January 2018, so it would have been a simple matter to adjust the numbers down to reflect the more up to date prediction, but this was not done.

Residents’ groups, individual residents and the BLP inspector all pointed out the anomaly to RBWM, but RBWM steadfastly refused to act.

The fact that the RBWM BLP team refused to listen to public opinion and government statistics makes a complete mockery of the consultation and inspection process.

It also highlights a failure on the part of our Borough Councillors who voted for the BLP – how many of them knew, or understood the situation? – most I suspect were voting as instructed.

So, we have a plan with nearly 10,000 unnecessary dwellings in it that will be built on land that was (before the plan) greenbelt – RBWM needs to reverse the decision and reinstate Maidenhead’s greenbelt.

I fear that the downside for RBWM is that their chosen construction partners (Wates, CALA et al) will be submitting invoices for their design work that will not be used.

What a mess!

KEN ELVIN Tithe Barn Drive

Maidenhead