In her reply to the statement by Stephen Conway, Pauline Jorgensen, the leader of the Conservative group at Wokingham Borough Council she she had serious concerns about the local plan.
She said: “This plan is more than two years late.
“The Liberal Democrat administration got themselves elected on the back of a promise to bring in a new local plan, and save the borough from excessive development.
“Instead, they’ve spent the last two years avoiding the subject and have pushed us right against the buffers as far as agreeing a plan is concerned.
“They only discovered that they couldn’t amend the draft local plan, fortuitously, after the Liberal Democrats came to the realisation after all our elections … and when it will be another two years before residents could give their response at the ballot box.
“This local plan is littered with broken promises, made by the Liberal Democrats, for the people of this borough.
“The paper commits the council to building houses in numbers that were opposed by the Liberal Democrat ruling group when they stood for election.”
Referencing claims that the draft local plan was one created under the previous Conservative administration, she said: “They try to duck and dive from responsibility, but be under no illusions – this is their plan.
She said: “There are undoubtedly some things that we can support.
“Top of this list has to be the commitment to protect the green belt and urban green spaces.
“These are fundamental non-negotiables for us, and I know that my Conservative colleagues here tonight agree that there must be a united front from this council that the Green Belt should be protected.
“There are lots of bad points.
“Before we can even get into the substance of the site, we have to address the completely undemocratic way in which the liberal democrat administrations approach this plan.
Referring to the substantial, 1,600m page plan, she said: “Just over a week ago, we were given this monstrosity,
“We’ve been given a week to read, digest and, more importantly, understand.
“We don’t do this with the budget, and we didn’t do it with the much smaller local transport plan, And yet this document will impact the borough, and our residents, for decades to come, has been bounced on us.
“So much for notice. This is fundamentally undemocratic.”
She expressed her concerns about what she described as a lack of clarity in what the plans actually commit the authority to.
“We are seriously concerned about the impact on residents and traffic levels of developments.”
“Nothing I’ve heard from the leader compels me to support this local plan, unless they have extremely convincing alternatives.
“Like dodgy estate agents, the Liberal Democrats repeatedly mis-sold to residents a vision of a brand new plan for housing to get you to buy their party at election time.
“It turns out there are many additional clauses in small print, and the final product wasn’t what was promised.”
She said the local plan is built on the false premise that sites can’t be changed, it’s built on a rush to outpace Labours housing targets, and it’s built on wishful thinking and vague promises about transport infrastructure.
“Worst of all, it’s built on cynicism, the cynicism of making promises, holding up progress to get Liberal Democrats through local and general elections, and then admitting we’re never going to get what they sold you.
