Having had a few weeks to recover after the elections, time for normal service to be resumed.  Except that I am no longer exactly sure what “normal service” is in the current political situation.   And I am going to apologise in advance for a post which is almost unremittingly gloomy.

 

The Lib Dems and Tories being in coalition nationally is quite uncomfortable for both parties in Wokingham.  We are most definitely not in coalition.  The Tories are still running the council, and we are still holding them to account.  As before, we will work with them where we think they are doing the right  thing – but we will oppose them when they have got  it wrong. 

 

There are a lot of big issues coming up in the next few months for Wokingham Borough Council.   First we have the implications for local government of the Emergency Budget on 22nd June:  how will that affect the money the council gets from central government?

 

Then there are the implications of the announcements made on planning.  Although at first sight it may all look like good news, as usual in planning, things are more complicated than they first appear.   Anyone who has any acquaintance at all with how planning works knows that things rarely turn out as well as one hoped.    The council can’t just turn off new development like turning off a tap.  Any politician, of whatever hue, who suggests it can is either naive, disingenuous, or opportunistically populist.  

 

There have been some interesting announcements from Eric Pickles, the minister responsible.   Removing the regional planning targets looks like excellent news – but does it actually mean “no new housing development in Wokingham”?     Almost certainly not.  There will still be demand for new housing in the area, and developers will still want to build.    A government of any colour is unlikely to reward councils who say “no” to all new housing.   There have already been signals to this effect  from the current government.

 

Changing the rules so that back gardens no longer count as brownfield sites, and removing the minimum density of 30 dwellings to the hectare, will hopefully save the council from having to accept squashed infill developments.  But on the other hand, if there is demand for big houses, how much land will 30 new dwellings occupy in the future? More than one hectare.  And if they aren’t put in back gardens, then they will probably be built on greenfield sites……..     We may not like the infill, but I don’t think we would want to see more green fields swallowed up either! 

 

Like many councils, the Tories in Wokingham have adopted their Core Strategy, which lays down the guidelines for development in the area for the next 20 years.  How easy it would be to simply do away with it, we just don’t know.  What would happen to planned development that is already more than just a gleam in the developers’ – and landowners’ – eyes?   With no Core Strategy and no allocated housing numbers, instead of Wokingham borough remaining the place it is now, we might  actually end up with a complete developer free-for-all.    That could be much worse even than the development envisaged in the Core Strategy.

 

Everything is up in the air at the moment.  We have had announcements from the government  – but no detail and no actual proper guidance.  So at the moment we have to wait and see.   I wish it were otherwise.  But it isn’t.

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