Earth Day vigil to mourn green area
Borough: Maidenhead Great Park campaigners light candles for 200 acres ‘lost’ in Borough Local Plan
The Maidenhead Great Park campaign group held a candlelit vigil ‘mourning the loss of 200 acres of the greenbelt’ on Tuesday.
The vigil was held outside the Maidenhead Town Hall on Tuesday evening over more than three hours – marking the latest in a series of protests by campaigners opposed to redevelopment of Maidenhead Golf Course.
Rallies have previously taken place ahead of key votes and discussions on the Borough Local Plan and air quality.
The vigil, which was held ahead of Earth Day on Saturday, lasted 200 minutes to symbolise ‘200 acres [which] were taken out of Maidenhead’s greenbelt through the approval of the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead’s Borough Local
Plan in February 2022’.
Ahead of the vigil, Tina Quadrino, chair of the Maidenhead Great Park group, said: “Up to 3,000 new homes are planned for our precious green space, leading to the destruction of thousands of mature trees and wildlife habitats supporting dozens of protected species.”
Throughout the event, the group highlighted important climate information such as last summer’s record temperatures, which Tina said shone ‘a spotlight on the urgent need to protect trees and greenspace in
and around town centres, to help with cooling, water storage, reducing air pollution and safeguarding biodiversity’.
Following the event, Tina said: “We’d like to thank all our supporters who joined us gathered outside on a cold evening to stand up for nature, trees and cleaner air in our town.”
Thousands of new homes are planned for the Royal Borough as part of the Local Plan with the majority being built in Maidenhead – 1,800 of these new homes are planned to be built on Maidenhead Gold Course, which was taken out of the greenbelt when the Borough Local Plan was approved.
A spokesman for the Royal Borough said: “South West Maidenhead [the BLP development area which includes the golf course] will meet, in a managed way, a significant proportion of our future housing need, by creating a sustainable, high-quality and distinctive place. Developers are very alive to the aspirations of the council and the community for this area.
“Sustainability and the environment are key considerations in both the Borough Local Plan and the Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) for South West Maidenhead. The SPD was agreed last year following public consultation and will be a key consideration in deciding planning applications.
“The SPD reaffirms important commitments to deliver a sustainable development, continuing to seek net carbon zero development and 10 per cent biodiversity net gain, and ensuring provision of a strong green infrastructure network, a highly connected green spine running north-south, retention of Rushington Copse and as many other trees as practically possible, along with planting new trees.
“It is recognised that all forms of development, land use and construction work unfortunately have some impact upon the environment, habitats and wildlife. As part of their pre-application work, developers need to commission independent ecological surveys of their sites to accompany their planning applications, identify protected species, consider impacts on habitats, identify measures to minimise adverse impacts, and meet any legal obligations in relation to any protected species.”
W For more information about the Maidenhead Great Park campaign, go to www.maidenheadgreatpark. co.uk