An open letter to John Halsall

Dear John,

I’d hoped to ask this question on behalf of residents in the last full council, but we didn’t reach this part of the agenda.

The Conservatives are currently delivering a leaflet which claims that there will be ‘no new large developments in Wokingham’ and that the local plan update means that Wokingham will only have to build an average of 27 new houses a year in the town for the next decade.

In Emmbrook ward alone, the council is planning to build 130 houses and a dementia care home (on a highly unsuitable site right next to the motorway). There are also plans for private development in Emmbrook, such as the plan to build flats on the corner of Barkham Road by the station.

Outside of Emmbrook, the Conservative-led local plan update (LPU) indicates that there are a number of developments planned in the other three Town wards, such as Ashridge Farm and around Gipsy Lane. Residents are concerned that we will lose the current library building to developers. This isn’t an exhaustive list – there are several other sites, including office conversions into housing.

The LPU shows further large developments planned for just outside the town boundaries – for example, Winnersh Farms.

Finally, this only takes into account those developments which are in the LPU, and not future planning applications.

With all of this building planned, residents don’t understand the claim that we’ll be building an average of just 27 houses a year. Could you please explain to them how you have reached this figure?

Rachel Bishop-Firth, Councillor,

Emmbrook Ward