If you read the Wokingham Times you will see that on page three of the 18th January issue they have picked up on the comment that the MoD backed Defence Estates Consortium are unwilling to fund a bypass for Arborfield, instead suggesting that modifications to the existing roundabout would be adequate to mitigate the traffic effects. Of course this is contrary to the published traffic modelling which can be found on the Wokingham Borough Council site. The Forecast Year Results report  contains three scenarios, the first being to build no houses, the second to build houses with no mitigating work, and the third to build everything proposed in the planning documents including a bypass for Arborfield. The report makes the following conclusion in paragraph 4.4.2:

It has not been possible to demonstrate that an absolute nil detriment position has been reached through a comparison of Scenarios C and A. However,the introduction of off-site infrastructure reduces the impact of SDL development proposals on travel through Wokingham demonstrated through the assessment of ten travel time routes across the Borough. This results in a 9% increase in travel time on these routes in the AM peak period and a 5% increase in the PM peak period. Furthermore there is a clear benefit through adoption of the infrastructure associated with Scenario C demonstrated through the comparison between Scenarios C and B.

Essentially we’re told that unpublished MoD modelling indicates that a new road in unnecessary, but the published report concludes that even if every road scheme is built the required nil detriment position will not be achieved. So who do you think is right, the published report, or the secret MoD modelling that nobody has seen?

As our contribution to the article we issued the following statement to the press:

U-turn Final PDF

If you submitted any comments to the recent re-consultation you should have received notification late last week of the special executive meeting called by Wokingham Borough Council on this coming Wednesday, 5th October at 7pm in the Council Chamber at which they propose to adopt the four revised Strategic Development Location documents. Despite all their comments to consult more fully, the council is again calling a meeting at less than a weeks notice.

Whilst we know it is short notice, members of AG-RAG are encouraged to attend the meeting if at all possible. As with other executive meetings questions can only be asked in advance in writing using the form linked from this page on the council web site. Each person is only allowed to ask one question, but if they are at the meeting in person can ask a supplementary question. If a questioner is absent then the question will be asked and answered. The answers will be sent to questioners in writing whether they attend the meeting or not.

If you are happy to ask one of the questions that AG-RAG would like to ask please contact us using the form on this site, if you have your own question please let us know what you are planning to ask to ensure that we don’t ‘waste’ a question by asking one that is similar to one that is already being asked.

If you need any more guidance, the following document covers our main points of contention with the SDL document as it stands.

Main Points From AGRAG

This may well be your last opportunity before the planning applications start coming in to ask questions and influence the masterplanning process, once the plan is adopted any planning applications will be assessed against the adopted plan so our ability to object to aspects of the development will be severely curtailed. We would therefore urge you not to miss out on this last chance.