Maidenhead Advertiser

Gavin Ames

Initially I wasn’t sure either

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I learned something interestin­g this week.

It’s about town planning so, admittedly, it might not be the most mind-blowing thing you will read today – but it could help your own little bit of Maidenhead.

As most people know, the Royal

Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead (RBWM) now has a Borough Local Plan (BLP) which sets out the way the borough is planned to develop between now and 2033.

The RBWM BLP sets out the vision for what kind of buildings will go where, housing, retail, offices etc.

It also covers issues such as schools provision, employment, environmen­t, infrastruc­ture and so on.

It comes in at 272 pages and is highly recommende­d for anyone who has trouble sleeping.

But here’s the thing I learned.

Alongside the BLP, each part of the borough is also allowed to develop a Neighbourh­ood Plan (NP) which is focused on particular villages or towns, and these give the opportunit­y for local people (residents and workers) to set planning policy about the way their neighbourh­ood should develop.

In Maidenhead there are many unparished councils which the NPs are targeting: Belmont, St Mary’s, Riverside, Furze Platt, Pinkneys Green, Boyn Hill and Oldfield.

These Neighbourh­ood Plans can’t contradict the much maligned BLP, but they can add important detail to it on a wide range of subjects – for example green spaces, leisure amenities, cycle lanes, parking.

The borough makes decisions on a borough-wide basis, but we all know that issues at local level can look very different, so it’s important that we are allowed to have our say about the area where we live and work.

So, here’s the shocker.

Every part of the Royal Borough has a Neighbourh­ood Plan, either in place or in developmen­t, with the exception of one – Maidenhead! This town, which is going to carry the majority of the developmen­t over the next few years, building 70 per cent of the extra housing, does not currently have a Neighbourh­ood Plan.

So a group of intrepid volunteers set up Maidenhead Neighbourh­ood Forum (MNF) a couple of years ago and, after a slow start, they are now hoping to be ‘designated’ (ie given permission) to develop a NP for the town.

Complainin­g about the council by being a keyboard warrior on social media sites may make people feel better for a second, but it won’t actually help the situation.

So this initiative from Andrew Ingram and Ian Rose is to be applauded. You can contact them via chair@mnf.org.uk if you like.

RBWM is currently conducting the statutory six-week consultati­on about this, and would urge you to express your support for MNF being designated (you can respond to the consultati­on on the RBWM website – closing date Tuesday December 6.

This is a very easy thing that you can do today to support your local area. Looking at the cranes above Maidenhead Town Centre building site you may feel this stable door is a bit late being closed (as the horse has already bolted to Windsor racecourse).

Some big and hugely unpopular decisions have already been taken.

But NPs can and do make a difference all over the country and we do need one in this town.

So, for the skim reader: support the MNF proposals about an NP to make policy alongside RBWM’s BLP.

TTFN and HAGW!

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