The Local Election starting gun has now been fired, although given the lack of any kind of political activity around the biggest issue I am aware of locally you could be forgiven for missing it. It seems like very few of our local politicians are brave enough to talk about the steady erosion of our “rural” environment, by all accounts one of the key factors in making Wokingham such a popular choice when it comes to choosing somewhere to live.
According to My Wokingham “Wokingham is a good place to live, voted the best in Berkshire. It offers the rural lifestyle most people are currently seeking, favourable living conditions, business environment, and health conditions”. When Arborfield and Barkham residents voted on the Arborfield and Barkham Neighbourhood Plan they voted overwhelmingly in favour of the Plan. (94% of those voting were in favour of the plan).
A key component of the plan was POLICY IRS1: PRESERVATION OF SEPARATION OF SETTLEMENTS:
“In order to protect the separation of settlements, development proposals outside of development limits designated in the Managing Development Delivery Local Plan 2014 will be required to comply with Policy CP11 of the Core Strategy and:
a) Preserve the character and appearance of the countryside; and
b) Not lead to the physical, visual or perceived coalescence of existing settlements”.
Which is why I find it so strange that our Lib Dem candidates for Arborfield and Barkham are shying away from talking about the proposal to put 4,500 houses at Hall Farm. Clearly preservation of the countryside is a vote winner, so why pretend 4,500 houses imposed on a large part of the Borough is not an issue? (I note Edneys Hill gets a mention, but why are 40 homes on the green space at Edneys Hill worthy of note when 100 times that number of homes on the green space at Hall Farm are not?)
I know from bitter personal experience the “predetermination” argument, it was used to deny us a debate after we collected thousands of signatures in a petition. According to our soon to be ex Independent Councillor Gary Cowan “It’s not predetermination. The Lib Dem’s use that as an excuse to stay stum. Predetermination allows one to have an opinion and express it at a point in time as long they are open to changing their mind if the circumstances so dictate”.
I see Leader of Wokingham Conservatives Pauline Jorgensen has no such issues with expressing her opinions publicly.
“The Conservatives have a clear plan for housing if we are elected. We would get on with the Local Plan but based on clear principles. We will oppose building on green fields, including at Hall Farm near Arborfield”.
The three Conservative candidates for Arborfield and Barkham ward responded jointly to our enquiries as follows:
“The south of the borough has had considerable development in the last decade with Arborfield Green still years off of completion; we need to see this delivered with everything that was promised including the shops and the swimming pool - this is something we want to work on. Our answer on Hall Farm is simple; we are opposed to 4500 houses on Hall Farm; to be clear we are opposed to the 2200 in the new plan and the 2300 in the following plan period.
This does not mean that we are opposed to building homes, but Hall Farm is NOT the right place, we must focus on spreading the load across the Borough, ensuring there are the required infrastructure improvements where new homes are built and most importantly strongly support brownfield development. You might have seen that Pauline Jorgensen wrote an article in Wokingham Today where she mentioned Hall Farm and the Conservative candidates absolutely support this position”.
https://www.wokinghamlabourparty.org/category/find-your-candidate-2024/2024-barkham-and-arborfield/ is a link to the Labour candidates for Arborfield and Barkham. Of the three Dr Annette Medhurst is the only one to have any kind of personal statement. In it she does address some of the current concerns many feel about housing:
“Time and time again she hear that property rental is too high leaving households struggling to make ends meet. Our community does not need more expensive executive flats, it needs council houses. Residents deserve to live in a forward-thinking borough that allows everyone to flourish, provides opportunities for all and thinks about the future for the next generation”.
I looked for information on the one Green Party candidate, Asad Feroz, but all I could find was last years result, where even I beat him with my 76 votes standing as an Independent. He is at least listed as someone who lives in the area though.
Adrian Betteridge, one of the three Lib Dem candidates for Arborfield and Barkham writes in email correspondence to me when questioned on his position:
“We will look at the updated and improved local plan as a whole when it is finalised. It would be wrong to take a position on any one part of it ahead of that time, and any aspiring councillor who does so will be failing their future constituents by prejudicing their ability to vote at the time. I would be very happy for you to relay this position accurately and in full”.
But we KNOW the University of Reading are pushing ahead with their plans to build at Hall Farm. Just last night Arborfield and Newland Parish Council received an invitation to discuss with the university, among other things, the “Loddon Valley Garden Village”. This will be the same University proudly announced by the current Lib Dem administration as “Strategic Business Partner” to Wokingham Borough Council. The major problem I see with this “partnership” is the University of Reading are even more desperate for money than Wokingham Borough Council.
Looking around us at what is happening in neighbouring boroughs it is possible to see a more “enlightened” approach to housing development. For example, in nearby Basingstoke and Deane the M.P. Maria Miller is campaigning on a “slow down development” ticket. https://www.maria4basingstoke.co.uk/campaigns/slow-it-down-cut-housebuilding
“Our community wants rapid housebuilding to slow down, to give local services like our Hospital and GPs time to catch up with the increase in demand, and to help meet the Council’s Climate Emergency declaration. The Local Plan Update should cut new house building levels in half, so we meet the needs of our own local residents, not act as a dormitory town to cover for under-delivery by other Local Authorities.”
Why can’t we have such a policy? Why must we be the Borough that overdelivers on housing yet gets no credit for doing so? Do we really need all these houses built?
However, all this is beside the point now. I received my postal ballot today, as will have many others. The voting has already begun and now it is decision time.
If you should get a political representative canvassing you on your doorstep, can I respectfully suggest you ask them the two questions SOLVE Hall Farm have been asking candidates:
1) Will you publicly support SOLVE in opposing the inclusion of Hall Farm in the Wokingham BC Local Plan Update?
2) If you are not willing to publicly oppose the inclusion of Hall Farm in the Local Plan Update, what steps will you take if elected to protect local residents from further desecration of the countryside between Reading and Wokingham?
There we have it. It looks very much like: If you want 4,500 houses built on green fields at Hall Farm vote Lib Dem on May 2nd. If you would prefer to NOT have 4,500 houses built on green fields at Hall Farm vote Conservative on May 2nd, assuming you trust the Conservatives to deliver on their election promises?
Roderick Paul Stevens on behalf of SOLVE Hall Farm.