A thousand protesters packed into meetings to object to a possible 3,500 new homes being built on Green Belt land east of Twyford.
An extra 8,000-10,000 residents would more than double the population of Twyford and Ruscombe by 2036, they say.
Among the objectors were a cancer sufferer and a Twyford GP worried about inadequate healthcare for residents.
Protesters are piling their names onto the new Campaign to Protect Rural Wokingham supporters’ list – more than 1,000 have signed up so far.
Twyford councillor Lindsay Ferris told the protesters: “If we don’t stop this now, this area will be destroyed for ever. It’s a once in a lifetime effort. I’ve never known people so united and so upset.”
Leading the protest campaign team is Cllr John Halsall who represents Wargrave, Ruscombe and Remenham on Wokingham Borough Council: the land is in Ruscombe parish, part of his ward.
He told the packed meetings at Loddon Hall, Twyford last Thursday and Saturday that the potential development would be the death of Twyford town centre.
“People living in housing estates do not shop in town centres but in shopping malls which are more convenient for parking and access,” he said.
There would be “massive congestion of services and roads leading to a marked deterioration in the quality of life.” And he added: “You will lose all your green belt and green spaces between settlements.”
The A4 would become clogged with traffic, making it a large car park for much of the day. Twyford, Charvil, Sonning, Woodley, Hurst and Wargrave would be hit.
Cllr Halsall rejected claims the development would improve the area.
People had not moved to Twyford, only to have their station moved to Ruscombe. “They even have a name for it – Parkway,” he said.
A new station would cost £100m, with another £30m for the Henley branch line to be moved and he felt this money would not be available.
There were concerns on the roads as well: environmental problems at Twyford traffic lights needed resolving regardless of development.
He said Wokingham Borough Council had issued a tender for £300,000 to £500,000 for the masterplan, which includes for 3,500 houses in Ruscombe next to Twyford, 10,000 in Grazeley [Wokingham borough part] and 1,000 in Barkham.
For the Ruscombe area, Cllr Halssall claimed that Berkeley Homes and the biggest local landowner were “acting in consort presenting the borough with the opportunity of a big site with one developer. It is the easy and lazy option for the Borough to promote.”
But the residents’ campaign aimed to protect the green belt – prime agricultural land and space between settlements in the borough – from inappropriate development.
And Cllr Halsall said that infrastructure in the area was already overcrowded and couldn’t cope, and was helpful that a green belt review had said no local areas should be removed.
Recently, Hare Hatch Sheeplands garden centre lost its planning fight with the borough council over green belt breaches.
Cllr Halsall said: “There are those of us who would find it completely hypocritical for the Borough to have defended the green belt rigorously over the last five years to give it to a developer.”
He said most new Wokingham borough houses were for people moving into the area.
“They are typically selling homes in London and buying, with change, a family home in Wokingham,” he said.
“In the meantime, our children, those on median incomes, service workers and older people wishing to downsize are having to leave the borough for housing.”
Wokingham was popular so people paid a lot to live here.
“The affordability issue is also down to developers who in three years have pushed the selling price for a two-bedroom house from £250,000 to £389,000,” he claimed.
Affordable housing of around £150,000-£200,000 to buy and homes at £500-£700 a month were needed.
He urged residents to:
- Write to local MP Theresa May.
- Email their names and addresses to jane@bftf.org.uk
- Go to the Campaign to Protect Rural Wokingham Facebook page.
- Help pay for legal and planning advice.
- Sign the campaign petition when asked.
- Help with website design in WordPress, and also Twitter, deliveries and fund raising.
- Go to the website when it is ready.
