IT APPEARS that the government is not taking seriously a threat by the leader of the council to protest naked unless housing numbers in Wokingham borough are reduced.
Earlier this week, the government released a new white paper calling for changes to the planning system to make it easier for housing to be built.
This, Wokingham Borough Council argues, will mean the yearly housing target will more than double, seeing more than 1,600 homes constructed every year, something it feels is ‘completely unacceptable’.
Under the white paper, initiatives include quicker development and creating zones: categorising land into growth, renewal or protection.
Areas that are labelled as growth are expected to have outline planning permission in place that would allow developers to create housing without councils debating the principal of the scheme.
Homes in the renewal areas will have automatic pre-approval from permitted development rights.
Councils will have to create a new style local plan that will see councils lose ability to set local policies – housing targets would be set by central government using a standard method for calculating housing need.
And they will also see the end of the Section 106 developer contributions scheme that earmarks money for social housing and community infrastructure such as the new relief roads currently being built in the borough.
All of this flies in the face of a consultation of borough residents last year that saw almost a third of the borough’s population reject more housing numbers.
And at a council meeting last month, councillors from across the political divides came together to agree a motion calling on government ministers to come and visit Wokingham borough, meeting residents, parish councillors and borough councillors to hear first hand how the existing developments are causing problems across Wokingham.
During his speech supporting the motion, the leader of the council, John Halsall, threatened to protest naked in Whitehall if government continued to ignore Wokingham residents’ wishes.
Responding to the white paper proposals, Cllr Halsall said: “We’re outraged and disgusted at these government proposals which would see the amount of new housing more than double across the Wokingham Borough to 1,635 per year.
“This is completely and utterly unacceptable.
“Not only is our current annual figure of 789 far too high but Wokingham in the last 20 years has taken on more than its fair share of new houses. This isn’t just us as a council questioning this level imposed by central government, 95% of our residents told us in a far-reaching survey last year they’re also against future developments.
“The perverse and bizarre methodology used to calculate the new housing rates in the White Paper are penalising those authorities like us which have already been delivering high numbers of new housing. It assumes we can continue in this way. We cannot. Our infrastructure and communities cannot and should not bear this burden.
“For the past two years we’ve been campaigning to Ministers to see sense. As they haven’t, we’ll continue the fight and do everything in our power so our residents don’t suffer from these crippling targets.”
Sir John Redwood, MP for Wokingham constituency, has written in his blog: “There is much to support in the Planning White Paper … Speedier decisions, Local Plans only one third of the current length and a simpler approach to an Infrastructure levy or contribution on developers are all welcome.
“The government should also as part of this policy exercise improve its control of our borders and set a sustainable figure for economic migrants as past Conservative governments did or promised to do, to ease some of the development pressures.”
