Time for a rethink on figures to save greenbelt

Last week I attended a RBWM Peer Review Session.

The idea is that a panel of councillors and officers from other local authorities are invited to conduct an audit of RBWM and rate their performance.

This particular session was open to parish council chairs and clerks, so the 14 parishes in RBWM received an invitation to give their opinions.

A few days before the meeting RBWM circulated attendees with a document entitled ‘Corporate Peer Challenge Position Statement’ explaining the process and giving information on progress so far.

Appendix 2 of the document was entitled ‘Key facts about the borough’ and under the heading of ‘Our population’ gave the following figures:

“In 2020 an estimated 151,273 people live in the borough (ONS MYE 2020).

“By 2043 this is estimated to be 155,348 (ONS projections 2018 based edition).”

This means that the increase in population over the period from 2020 to 2043 is projected to be 4,075 people or less than 180 residents per year.

Hardly a reason for the building program detailed in the RBWM Borough Local Plan (BLP)

Time to rethink the BLP figures and save our greenbelt.

KEN ELVIN Chairman, Bray Parish Council