A petition on Elms Field was launched on Wednesday and has already collected more than 650 signatures – but even if supporters receive more than 1,500 signatures it will not trigger a council debate.
The petition, on the change.org site, says: “We the undersigned residents of Wokingham, those who work here or are being educated here, do not wish to see building development on green space at Elms Field.
“We call upon Wokingham Borough Council to rejuvenate the green space and neglected facilities for the benefit of the local community and to regenerate Wokingham’s brown field spaces with facilities to meet the needs and preferences of the local community, and to suit the scale and character of this historic market town.”
Back in 2013, when the first Elms Field plans were put forward more than 1,700 people signed a petition which led to a public meeting at St Crispin’s School. As a result of that meeting, the Council revised the proposals which led to the resubmitted plans revealed last December.
However, this petition may not yield the same results for campaigners hoping to change the Council’s mind.
A spokesperson for the Council told The Wokingham Paper: “Ordinarily a debate on a petition with over 1,500 signatures would take place at a scheduled Council meeting. Because of the large amount of public interest in the previous petition on Elms Field it was decided to hold a special Council meeting off-site.
“If the new petition relates to the Elms Field planning application then it would not be accepted as a petition for debate by Council but would be referred directly to the Planning Department for consideration as part of the representations received for that application and would therefore would only be mentioned in the Officer report.”
