If You Only Do One Thing This Week

Fed up with traffic congestion? Struggle to get Doctors, Dentist, Hospital appointments?  Not getting your choice of School?  Is life around Wokingham getting crowded? Fed up with development disruption?

Just image what life around Wokingham will be like with over 16,000 more houses, over 30,000 more people and over 30,000 more cars and the next 10 – 15 years of development disruption.  

The Government wants to set a mandatory requirement of more than 1,600 new homes per year for Wokingham Borough – that is more than double the previous figure. Mandatory! We will have no say or choice in the matter. In fact, if they get their way residents and local Councils will almost be excluded from the planning. You will have very little say in your community.

Of course, it proposes to make it easier for developers, even though they already have over 1million approvals across the UK that are not yet built. If they were to build these, would there be an urgent housing shortage?

In Wokingham we have seen huge numbers of houses already built on green land, farming land. The proposed changes are likely to take away even more fields. We will be left with less, if any green fields. Shinfield and Arborfield will merge into one huge suburb of Reading and will be moving us closer and closer to joining up with Basingstoke. Readingstoke is a feasible result of these propsals.

To give an idea of size, the proposed new housing is bigger than Woodley and Earley combined.

If this was not frightening enough these numbers are only the mandatory numbers. Developers and Land Agents have consistently proven over the last few years that they will try for many many more.   The changes could lead to developers building where they want and to their own standards. For those who have experienced some of the current quality and construction behaviours, that is indeed a scary thought.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!  Since 2006, nearly 10,000 new homes have been built in Wokingham Borough. These proposals aim to mandate building a further 16,000 in the next 10 years.

Much was made during the general election about levelling up , balancing North and South. These proposals  show this was a pack of lies. Once again it is the South and Wokingham that are being targeted  for growth. Why? Could it be because the developers make more profit in this area?

If this worries you and you care about our community then you have two options;

  1. Do Nothing – Accept that Government and its use of algorithms has got it right and accept the development.
  2. Take a few minutes and write a letter or email expressing how you feel.

Write to your MP:

Write to the proposer of the changes and leader of the algorithm:-

  • Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Robert Jenrick using the online form at https://forms.communities.gov.uk/

Help Wokingham fight this battle by copying in fairplayinhousing@wokingham.gov.uk

If you only do one thing this week help us

Save our Villages, Save our Wokingham, Save our green fields, Save our farming land

Consultation Closes at 11.45pm on 1st October.

Further information can be found www.wokingham.gov/uk/fairplayinhousing

See the press view of Shinfield ;-  https://sossaveourvillages.org/throwing-in-the-towel-the-michael-crick-report-mail

A petition has been started if you wish to sign www.enough-is-enough.org.uk

To input to the Government consultation www.gov.uk/government/consultations/changes-to-the-current-planning-system