Gavin Ames

Never-ending storeys

Last week disappointment was expressed by a civic group to a 13-storey block of flats that is the latest Shanly brainchild.

One that would add no less than another 108 apartments to the already cluttered plans to bulldoze the town centre and turn it into residential proper ties.

This latest one would apparently turn parts of West Street into a canyon, devoid of natural sunlight, literally and metaphorically overshadowed by this skyscraper.

It is hard to know where all of this will end.

Will the top floor of future buildings in our town centre be kept as a ‘viewing deck’, where we are encouraged to drink overpriced cocktails and eat premium priced meals, just for the chance of being able to see all the way to Summerleaze from one side of the building and to Ockwells on the other?

On a really clear day perhaps Cliveden or Windsor Castle may be visible.

There seem to be a few things that just don’t add up.

We understand that Maidenhead needs more homes. We really do get that.

Insufficient homes have been built over the last generation which has served to drive up prices and means that twenty somethings have been priced out of the market.

But firstly why build them where population density is already high?

Building homes on top of other homes seems illogical.

However, builders will go where the money is and if they are told by RBWM they don’t have to pay CIL in the town centre (and properties can be sold at high prices on account of good transport links) then they will be like bees around honey.

Secondly, if in this one building alone there are going to be 108 extra apartments – meaning perhaps 200 more people – then are none of these people going to own cars?

If one or two of them are inconsiderate enough to do so, where are they going to park these cars? And what about the traffic in the town centre? Has anybody on our esteemed council actually thought any of this through?

Thirdly the original reason cited for all these luxury flats was to cash in from affluent City workers who didn’t want to pay London prices and wanted to have a place to crash out after a tough day in the world of finance.

Maidenhead has been hanging on to the Crossrail dream since the project was announced in 2009 (yes, 13 years ago now) and it has taken on the mantle of the Golden Egg ever since.

It was due to be completed in 2018, then 2019 and then 2020. Now 2022 is anyone’s best guess.

More worryingly though, now people have adjusted so successfully to homeworking and businesses sense an opportunity to save millions by not renting out so many floors of buildings in Canary Wharf, encouraging hot-desking by its staff, perhaps the face of commuting has changed forever.

So at a time when the town is crying out for affordable houses for families, it seems to show a lack of joined up thinking to propose tall blocks of flats for people who may not be needing to catch a train through to Tottenham Court Road or Liverpool Street.

We have already seen how fuzzy the thinking was behind the Borough Local Plan. Building houses all over Maidenhead Golf Club where fauna and flora flourish seems opportunistic at best and immoral at worst.

If the last year has taught us anything, it is about the importance of wide open spaces and an ability to connect with nature. It seems paradoxical that whilst we are still experiencing the pandemic, that we are even considering measures that will do little but further devalue our already heavily tarnished Maidenhead brand.