By Cllr Lindsay Ferris
It is six months since I took on the role of Exec member for Planning and Local Plan. It has certainly been a very busy period.
In early summer we received important information from the 2021 Census. Between 2011 and 2021, the population of Wokingham Borough increased by just over 15%, while the average across the Country was only 6.3%. Our area has therefore grown 2.5 times the national average.
This is not surprising when you see all the new homes that has been built across large parts of the Borough. I believe that Wokingham Borough has delivered more than its fair share of homes towards the Conservative Government’s annual housing target.
In mid-summer, we received the analysis of the near 3,000 submissions to the WBC LPU Regulation 18 Consultation that took place late 2021/early 2022.
From this analysis, it became clear that all proposed housing sites included in that consultation had received objections from some quarters.
This is unsurprising as the provision of new housing is often controversial, with many local residents concerned about over-development, loss of habitat and the change to the character of our area. However, others also continue to recognise that we remain in an acute housing crisis and that new housing, in particular new affordable housing continues to be needed locally.
The issue we must now address is how to move forward with a New Local Plan, and one that meets, as best we can, the wishes of our residents, including those that need the new housing we must provide.
You will have seen on several occasions in this newspaper, the leader of Wokingham Borough Council, Cllr Clive Jones, continuing to lobby the Government about excessive Housing numbers in our area.
He has written to all three of the Secretary of States for Levelling up, including Michael Gove MP for a second time when he was reinstated in this post a couple of months ago.
At long last we believe the Government has heard this message.
On December 6, 2022, Mr Gove issued a statement in the House of Commons that they would be producing a Prospectus on Planning including the Local Plan before Christmas.
On December 22, two consultation documents were issued. One that covers the levelling up proposals and a second, which sets out draft revised planning policy for England and Wales called the NPP .
This document is the one that is used by Government to guide and drive the Local Plan process.
Within the revised NPPF there are a number of proposed changes that gives us cause for cautious optimism that our lobbying has worked, that we have been listened to, and that there is potential for changes within the Local Plan process that we trust could lead to more manageable and acceptable housing numbers in areas like ours, that have delivered considerable housing development over the past five-10 years.
The first ground for optimism relates to past over-delivery of Homes in an area. The draft NPPF states: “If there is clear evidence of past over-delivery, in the terms of the number of homes permitted, compared to the housing requirement, in which case this over-delivery may be deducted from the provision required in the New Plan”.
In Wokingham area, it is currently estimated that there has been an over-delivery somewhere in the region of 1,800 homes during the period of the current Local Plan (2006 -2026).
If the draft NPPF comes forward unchanged in its final form, it would suggest that this level of past over-delivery could be taken into account, thereby potentially reducing the number of homes required within our new Local Plan, currently under preparation.
The second ground for optimism relates to the removal of something called a housing buffer.
This is a percentage uplift above the Housing Need figure (in Wokingham a 5% uplift has been used). The removal of this buffer uplift would reduce the overall Housing needs requirement for our area. This is a smaller, but still important reduction.
Where a Council progresses its Local Plan in a timely manner and that plan includes sufficient housing to meet the community’s needs it also appears that there are grounds for optimism that the new NPPF will provide stronger protections for those communities facing speculative development which is contrary to the plan.
Of course, there is still ‘some water to go under the bridge’ until we see the final version of the NPPF, so we will be continuing to lobby hard as possible and will be responding in detail to the Government’s consultation proposals before the deadline of March 2.
I would also ask anyone who is concerned about over-development in areas like Wokingham to do the same and continue to lobby our MPs and, in particular, respond to these two documents.
The more people that comment, the more Government is likely to listen – we hope.
Cllr Lindsay Ferris is the executive member for planning and the local plan, and ward member for Twyford
