Local Green Space for Winnersh
Liberal Democrat Councillor for Winnersh ward Learn more
by Prue Bray on 21 June, 2011
If you like answering questionnaires, now’s your chance to tackle a truly gigantic one with over 180 questions.
Until 27th July Wokingham Borough Council are consulting the public on the obscurely named Managing Development Delivery Development Plan Document, or MDD DPD for short. It doesn’t sound very exciting, but it is very significant indeed. Because this is the document that sits alongside the Core Strategy and Strategic Development Location masterplans, and will determine what guidelines will be used to govern development in Wokingham Borough upto 2026.
This is the first part of the consultation, and asks the public (and developers and land owners of course) whether they endorse the choices the council has opted for on such varied things as renewable energy, town centres, gypsy and traveller sites, recycling centres, country parks, flooding and burial grounds. You can find the consultation at http://www.wokingham.gov.uk/planningcontrol/planning/consultations/ This is only the first consultation – so no final decisions on anything will be made as a result of it.
But there is one document related to the MDD DPD that will be of interest. It’s the Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment. Basically, that’s the list of all the sites which have been put forward to the council for building houses on from now until 2026. In a few months the council will be picking the sites it thinks are most suitable from that list – and that’s where houses will be built. They need to find space for about 1500 houses, because that’s what’s left after the Strategic Development Locations have taken most of the houses the Conservatives agreed in the Core Strategy would be built. Space for 1000 houses is actually needed – the other 500 are extras in case some of the others end up not getting built.
So you have a chance now to put in comments on the sites which have been put forward in your part of the Borough. As I say, the fact that a site is in the list now doesn’t mean the council has agreed it will be built on, it just means that it is on the list to be assessed. But you can help that assessment process by sending in your comments now. You can see the list of sites at http://tinyurl.com/WBCpotentialhousingsites
As I said, you can find the consultation at http://www.wokingham.gov.uk/planningcontrol/planning/consultations/ Have a look – and see what you think. And pass your comments back to me too! Although I am not sure I want your answers to the full 180+ questions……..
4 Comments
[…] іntο more: Prue Bray | Wokingham assembly consult οn development Posted in Hosting | Tagged as: are-consulting, consulting-the-public, council, delivery, […]
[…] See original here: Prue Bray | Wokingham council consult οn development […]
Prue – just sent this to WBC:
Dear Wokingham District Council,
I wish to comment on the local master plan for Wokingham but firstly I need to comment on the web interface.
The interface, although obviously well thought out, does not work correctly. I have a fully patched Win XP PC running Firefox, again fully patched, but the ‘interactive’ map is very un-interactive – the central map only fills a small portion of it’s window. So I cannot interrogate it as I would wish to. If you are going to provide this kind of interface for the public to comment on please make sure they work.
Onto the development plan, those areas that I can see or comment on:
Our main comment is on traffic and it’s management. There seems to be a lot of additional housing around the central area of Wokingham which will drastically increase the traffic throughout the central part of Wokingham especially Wellington Road. We currently live on a traffic calmed road that already sees use as a ‘rat run’, between Barkham Road & the Reading Road. With the additional housing & therefore traffic we can only see this use of the ‘rat runs’ in Wokingham increasing. Please can you ensure that the management of this dangerous traffic build up in residential areas a top priority for the plan.
Green spaces: We moved to Wokingham in 1993 drawn by it’s market town character & ‘green heart’. This has slowly been eroded by a lack of investment in the Elms field area, a lack of investment that has gone on for over a decade. If it was still a ‘green sporting heart’ with golf, tennis & basketball on offer, it would still be beating now and we would be facing the planned ‘monstrous carbuncle’… The new plans for houses on green space and yet another ‘superstore’ are not what is required nor wanted. If the Town centre regeneration depends on this ‘lead store investment’ then we would rather not have the regeneration and spoil the green heart & character of Wokingham for generations to come. Don’t develop for developments sake, if it’s not in character with Wokingham then don’t do it.
Your comments on these issues would be appreciated.
Regards,
Ben Roberts
Arthur Road
Wokingham
I share your pain over the “interactive” map. I have made the same point as you in the past. More than once. The map works as it is designed to. Like the rest of the website that does not make it work as desired or in a user-friendly way!
I agree with your comments about traffic and about the way Elms Field has been allowed to run down. But not all of the blame for that can be placed at the door of the borough council, as Elms Field was supposed to be managed by the Town Council, and it was under their stewardship that the pitch and putt and tennis courts went into decline. Many people feel like you about the supermarket and the encroachment onto the green space of Elms Field. I have repeatedly warned the Conservative councillor in charge of the regeneration that any reduction of the green space at Elms Field will be unacceptable.