In September 2024, Wokingham Borough Council approved its new local development plan, which sets out new local planning policies and identifies sites to accommodate the housing allocation given to us by central government. After a final public consultation, the plan was submitted to the planning inspectorate for examination last February.
That date is important, as submission before the middle of March enabled the council to proceed with the plan it had been working on for many years, with a lower housing allocation (748 new homes a year) rather than start all over again under the new rules, which would have required us to find sites for more than 1300 new homes a year.
By taking advantage of the transitional arrangement for councils at an advanced stage with their local plans, we have bought ourselves about three to four years breathing space to develop in a considered way a further local plan that meets the government’s new housing requirements. During that period, we will be protected from inappropriate speculative development, which is at present causing so much upset across the borough.
The case for the new local plan, then, is very strong. Yet the Conservative opposition on Wokingham Borough Council is seemingly trying to derail its adoption and is preparing to argue against it at the inspectors’ examination.
The leader of the opposition says she now opposes the inclusion of Hall Farm, even though her own administration put it in the local plan in the first place. She was part of the executive that approved the draft local plan. For the first two years of her time as leader of the opposition she kept berating the new Lib Dem-led administration for not immediately submitting the draft plan – including Hall Farm – that we had inherited from her party. For her party now to pose as enemies of Hall Farm’s inclusion is a remarkable political about-turn. Was it coincidental that this conversion occurred in the months before the crucial 2024 all-out elections in Wokingham Borough?
If the Conservatives truly wish to derail the plan, they are being grossly irresponsible.
Let us suppose, for a fanciful moment, that thanks to the efforts of the Conservatives, the inspectors rejected the submitted plan. What would happen next?
The consequences would be serious and painful for residents in every part of the borough.
The council would have to start work immediately on a new plan. During the preparation period, which would stretch for at least three years, the borough would be fully exposed to speculative development, and councillors would be powerless to stop it.
A new version of the plan would have to accommodate the higher numbers – more than 1300 new homes a year, rather than the current number of 748. The advantages gained by proceeding under the transitional arrangements would be lost.
Nor would Hall Farm be saved from development. To meet the higher housing allocation of more than 1300 a year, the council would need almost every site submitted by landowners, including Hall Farm.
Thankfully, that nightmare situation is very unlikely to happen. Even if the Conservatives pull out all the stops, I do not believe that the plan will be rejected by the inspectors. The submitted plan is based on sound professional judgements, not political influence. The inspectors will recognize that Conservative wrecking tactics are politically motivated.
But the opposition is playing a very dangerous game. In the desperate pursuit of votes, the Conservatives are willing to put all parts of the borough at greater and more prolonged risk of inappropriate speculative development.
That, in my book, is gross irresponsibility.
By Cllr Stephen Conway, leader of Wokingham Borough Council
