By Cllr Wayne Smith
We’ve been arguing for some time that Wokingham Borough Council’s Liberal Democrat-led administration’s approach to planning is fuelled by dithering, broken promises, and dismissal of residents’ views.
Their recent decision to prevent debate on a petition around development at Hall Farm is just the latest example of a leadership determined to plough on, regardless of what the public thinks.
In December last year, the SOLVE Hall Farm campaign group handed in a petition to the leader of the vouncil, signed by 1,800 residents, saying no to significant development at the Hall Farm site.
Under the Council’s constitution, there should now be a debate by councillors on how to respond to it.
In the past, there have been occasions where we councillors have discussed petitions on planning matters.
Members of the Planning Committee leave the room, so they can make a decision on a later planning application without having pre-judged the issue. The practice is straightforward, and whether we agree or not with the petition, we can all agree on the petitioners right to have their issue debated, surely?
Well, apparently not.
The campaigners have been told by officers that they can’t have a debate because it relates to a planning decision.
As I’ve already shown, this hasn’t been a barrier before.
Why has the Liberal Democrat-led administration, backed up by their Labour and Independent coalition colleagues, suddenly decided this issue can’t be discussed? I’m sure that it has absolutely nothing to do with the upcoming local elections…
When the coalition administration isn’t shutting out residents’ voices, it continues to tear up its promises.
Last year, Liberal Democrat council candidates guaranteed that if their party took control of the Council, there would be no development at Rooks Nest Farm in Finchampstead. We Conservatives warned that Liberal Democrat plans to delay progress on the Local Plan would put the site at risk of being built on by developers.
Now we discover the administration is planning to build a school at Rooks Nest Farm.
The Conservative Group absolutely believes a new school needs to be delivered, but why there? There are plenty of other available sites. Instead, the Liberal Democrats are wedded to removing yet another green space in the Borough.
And all the while, the Liberal Democrats, Labour and the Independents continue to wring their hands on the Local Plan, rather than moving forward with creating a new one.
Their policy seems to be to do nothing for as long as possible, say it’s all somebody else’s fault, and hope that wins them votes. But all they are doing is leaving the door open for developer after developer to win applications on appeal, landing communities with too many houses of the wrong type in the wrong place, and without the necessary infrastructure to support them.
The Liberal Democrats have argued that they must wait to see if the Secretary of State reduces the numbers of houses Wokingham is required to build, but this is not the case. The Council can push ahead with a plan, and if or when changes to the numbers is announced the plan can be adjusted to reflect those changes.
Not only is this possible, but it would be the most pragmatic and sensible thing to do.
Plan for the worst and campaign for the best, a reduction in housing numbers.
On top of that, even a draft Plan before it is formally accepted would afford the Borough a level of protection from speculative development that it does not currently have.
This delay has got to stop. Residents deserve better than an administration that ducks accountability, stifles legitimate concerns, and shirks action in favour of empty posturing.
If the Conservatives are returned to power after May’s elections, we’ll get on with a Local Plan that will deliver sustainable communities and protects the Borough from unwanted development.
We’ll build on our previous success to get our housing numbers down to an achievable level. And, unlike the Liberal Democrats, the Conservatives will ensure that residents are always put at the heart of the Council’s planning policy.
Cllr Wayne Smith is the shadow member for planning, enforcement and strategic development, and Conservative ward member for Hurst
