Council leader says challenging Toryministers is a huge task

A WEEK after the council launched its campaign to fight housing numbers, leader John Halsall said he is determined to challenge his own party.

Cllr Halsall remains committed to making as much noise as possible over the threat to Wokingham borough, admitting that challenging his own party’s proposals was “a huge task”.

But he is attempting to step up to the plate, replicating some of the methods he used while running the Campaign to Protect Rural Wokingham a couple of years ago.

“I’m in the Unitary Councils Network, it is what is says on the tin. I will be their spokesperson and chairing the group,” he said.

“I’ve been talking with South East strategic leaders, which broadly comprises councils in the south.

“The borough’s MPs are on side, and there is the feeling that we might be getting somewhere.”

He vowed to also champion backbench Conservative MPs to explain the situation to themand get them to put pressure on the government to change their focus.

And while he had hoped to reemploy Christopher Katkowski, a QC of Landmark Chambers to launch a judicial review of the housing numbers, this won’t be happening.

“As leader I tried to take housing numbers to judicial review,” he said. “I used him on Campaign to Protect RuralWokingham. We said that we’d like him to lead the judicial review, but he said that couldn’t because housing numbers are at the discretion of the minister, and that you can’t take a discretion to a judicial review.”

For now, he wants residents to write to their localMP – be it Theresa May, Sir John Redwood, Matt Rodda or James Sunderland – to air their concerns at the white paper plans.

“The more residents letters they receive the more likely they are to have to act,” he said. “The consultation responses will make the ministers sit up.”

And all this action, which also included a near-naked interview with Daily Mail journalist Michael Crick last week, has had one additional bonus for the council leader: “I think that Robert Jenrick knows who John Halsall is,” he said.

Supporting this call to action is Cllr Clive Jones, deputy leader of Wokingham Liberal Democrats.

He said the borough needs to respond to the Government's planning consultation as strongly as possible.

“This is such an important thing,” he said. “If these plans go ahead, it will change Wokingham borough forever.

“Developers will build wherever they want, to whatever standard theywant.

“We won’t be able to get enough affordable housing, or as much Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) money, which helps provide our roads, schools and general infrastructure.”

Cllr Jones said it is important for the Liberal Democrats to back up the council leaflet, with a leaflet of their own.

“We’re delivering a Lib Demleaflet asking people to take part in the consultation,” he said.

This, he hopes, will further highlight the importance of challenging the Government's planning reforms.

The leaflets will be delivered across the borough.