In Wokingham we have local elections as well as the General Election.  I had been hoping for a clean campaign in both, but already the Conservatives are making completely spurious attacks on us.   They are claiming that we wanted to build 13,400 houses in Arborfield.   NO WE DID NOT.    It’s nonsense, but if just dismiss it, someone somewhere will think it must be true.  WHICH IT IS NOT.

So for the record:

The Liberal Democrats’ view on development in Wokingham Borough is:

1   We agreed with the public that a new settlement is a better idea than infill and tacking houses on to what exists, and with the principle that went into the Core Strategy that building housing in larger groups is better because it generates enough developer contributions to create the needed infrastructure.

2   We do not think that the Conservatives got the allocation of houses right.  They have put in and voted through 1,500 houses in North Wokingham, 2,500 houses in South Wokingham, 2,500 houses in Shinfield/Spencers Wood, and 3,500 houses in Arborfield.  We did not vote for that.  We would prefer not to be in this situation at all, but our main concern is North Wokingham where we think new houses will cause the most problems.  So we would have preferred 5,000 houses in Arborfield and none in North Wokingham.  That Arborfield site would have a slightly different footprint to the one now in the Core Strategy.

3 It is a matter of public record that we went to the Examination in Public and argued that case.  

4  We cannot undo the Core Strategy, because the Conservatives are running the council and they have adopted it.  So the split of housing remains.

5  Our main fear now is that housing will get built and the infrastructure will not be provided.  So we will be campaigning to get the best out of what the Conservatives have landed us with locally -and that means fighting for the most green space to be kept, schools, doctors’ surgeries and community facilities, public transport and cycling to be supported, and road improvements.

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