You may already be aware of our latest post on the green4grow blog, but if you have not yet read it, please do. You can find it here: https://www.green4grow.org/post/decision-time

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It takes a slightly different tone from previous positions we have adopted in that it suggests that if we want to stop the 4,500 houses proposed as part of the Local Plan for Wokingham, the best way to do that is to vote Conservative. Please, bear with me.

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When we started our campaign; “Say No to 4,500 houses at Hall Farm” the political position in Wokingham was very different. The Conservative group were firmly in control of the Council and had been for may years. Since then, at least in part because of the controversy surrounding where the houses Wokingham are required to be built, the Lib Dems narrowly overturned that majority. They currently hold the balance of power, but only with the support of Labour.

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What felt at the time like a victory for our cause and what looked like support from leading Lib Dems such as Clive Jones was soon revealed to be no such thing. When our hard fought for petition was denied a fair debate in the Council Chamber over alleged concerns about “predetermination” we finally saw the light. We felt like we were being "played".

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When we later met with leading Lib Dems we were told that changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and past over provision of houses by WBC would allow for a significant reduction in the number of houses required, and that Hall Farm would see the greatest reduction as it had the highest number of objections. This also proved to be false.

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So, here we are on the brink of another election. Assuming you have not yet voted (postal ballots went out this week) I strongly urge you to read the blog post linked to above before you vote. I will not be rehearsing the arguments here, but long story short: The Conservatives under Pauline Jorgensen have made a public commitment in Wokingham Today to oppose building 4,500 houses at Hall Farm. No other party standing in Wokingham this May has done this.

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Of course it was the Conservatives who put 4,500 houses at Hall Farm in the LPU in the first place.  The article in Wokingham Today also states that the Conservatives would prioritise building on brownfield sites, but the previous Conservative administration was clear that Wokingham did not contain a significant amount of brownfield sites to meet the housing target.  So do you trust the Conservatives to deliver on their election promises?”

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I want to encourage a healthy debate on this, I may even be persuaded to change my voting intentions, so I also urge all of you to get involved on our website or on our social media pages.

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SOLVE Hall Farm Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/224503629758175

Green4grow Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/539753433782653

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Paul Stevens on behalf of SOLVE Hall Farm.