By Cllr Clive Jones
We continue to lobby for a reduction in the housing numbers imposed on Wokingham Borough by the government.
Some weeks ago, we wrote to Michael Gove MP, the secretary of state for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities, to ask him to meet with the new administration at Wokingham Borough Council to enable us to put our case for a reduction. I met Mr Gove at the Local Government Association Conference in Harrogate recently, and was delighted that he agreed to visit us in Wokingham.
In preparation for that visit, we prepared a detailed document that we were about to send him when the news broke that Mr Gove had been sacked by the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson.
We have now directed the details of our case to Mr Gove’s successor, Greg Clarke MP.
We have extended to him the same invitation that Mr Gove had accepted.
Direct approaches to the secretary of state are just part of our strategy. We are also meeting the borough’s MPs to discuss with them ways in which they can help. We have already spoken with Conservative MP’s Sir John Redwood and James Sunderland. Both engaged with us constructively and we found much common ground on how to tackle the problem of excessive housing numbers.
Last week, we continued to make good progress in our meeting with Theresa May MP.
There was broad agreement between us on the arguments to use and she is happy to work collaboratively to achieve our common objective. We’ll shortly be meeting with Matt Rodda the Labour MP for Reading East to have similar discussions.
The arguments, on which all agreed, were essentially as follows:
If levelling up is more than just a slogan, it must mean directing more investment – including housing – to those areas of the north that have been left behind and are crying out for more investment and more housing
Wokingham has built more than it was required to build over the past few years.
That over-supply should be reflected in the target set by government for the new local plan period.
Approximately 3,000 more dwellings have been provided under the existing local plan than that plan stipulated; that figure of 3,000 should therefore be deducted from the current allocation.
More recognition needs to be given by government of the difficulty of providing new housing on the scale the government demands.
Put simply, the borough will run out of land that can be developed very soon, and if the government does not respond appropriately, we will find our precious countryside has gone forever.
To make this case, partnership – the defining theme of the new administration at Wokingham – is vitally important.
We are pursuing a partnership approach – putting aside party political difference to work with MPs of other parties and to form a common front with councils (of all political persuasions) in a similar situation to ourselves.
We can achieve more by working together than we can on our own.
Cllr Clive Jones is the leader of Wokingham Borough Council and Liberal Democrat member for Hawkedon ward
