The AG-RAG Steering Group would like to bring you up to date on the latest news re the development plans for Arborfield:
1. The MOD are pressing ahead with development proposals
As you may have seen in the press and heard on the radio this week, the MOD announced they intend submitting a formal Planning Application to Wokingham Borough Council in January 2011 to starting building a huge new development in Arborfield in 2011. It will not be finished until 2026.
2. The size of the proposed development and the loss of scores of acres of green fields is totally unacceptable
While AG-RAG accept the need for some new houses and would support a suitably sized development on brown field land if/when the MOD have physically left the garrison site itself, we remain vehemently opposed to the scale of the proposed development and to the loss of huge swathes of green fields, open spaces and sport pitches all around us.
3. There is still complete uncertainty as to whether the MOD will stay in Arborfield or move out
Although the plans to move to South Wales have been axed, it’s still not clear if the MOD will remain in Arborfield or move elsewhere. AG-RAG’s firm view is that until the MOD have not only said they will leave the site (after all, they’ve been saying for the last 20+ years that they would be leaving), but they have actually left it and switched all the lights off, that no development should start. Otherwise, residents could be left with the worst of all worlds – a huge new development, our green fields and open spaces gone, the MOD still on site, and insufficient profit generated by the developers to enable them to fund improvements to the roads, sewage, water and other infrastructure required to support all the new houses and cars.
4. Public Exhibition
The MOD will be holding a public exhibition on in the Garrison Community Centre (off Princess Marina Drive) on Thursday 9 December between 12 mid-day & 8pm and on Friday 10 December between 8am & 2pm. They have told us that they have sent letters to each household in the area inviting you to the exhibition, although we know many of these letters have not yet arrived.
5. AG-RAG Believes the Exhibition Will Be Misleading
AG-RAG has seen an early draft of some of the exhibition material and believe it highly misleading. For a start, if the MOD really wanted to hear the views of all local residents, the exhibition should have been held over several days, including a week end, and not during 1 1/2 working days. Furthermore, the MOD will only be talking about the development on the land they own around Arborfield. Another consortium will be submitting a separate Planning Application for the land they own (essentially from Hogwood up to near where the Community Centre is).
6. AG-RAG Fact Sheet
Because of the misleading nature of the exhibition, the AG-RAG Steering Group is preparing a fact sheet to counter the MOD’s claims. We plan to hand out a copy of this factsheet to everyone who goes to the exhibition. YOU could help us please by giving up an hour (or more) of your time to hand out the newsletters. If you can help please let me know the hour timeslot(s) you could hand the newsletters out.
6. It’s Crucial YOU make your views known
The MOD are giving residents until Friday 7 January 2011 to make our views known. It’s crucial that you make your objections and other comments known to the MOD by this date.
So, in summary, the MOD are pushing ahead with their plans for a huge new development which the vast majority of Arborfield residents do not want, need or support. We believe NO development should start until the MOD has not only said they they will leave the site but that they have physically left it! Even then, no development should start on green fields and other open spaces until the brown field land where the existingh army buildings are, has been exhausted. AG-RAG believes the exhibition later this week is meant to mislead us so we are preparing a fact sheet with the true situation. You can help by not only making your views known to the MOD but by sparing an hour of your time to hand leaflets out to those people who go to the exhibition.
Thanks & Regards,
Martin Rutter
Chairman, Arborfield Garrison – Residents Action Group
An Update from Martin
With all that has happened this week, our chairman Martin Rutter has today e-mailed the following message to all our members.
To: All members of the Arborfield Garrsion Residents Action Group
Does the left hand know what the right hand is doing?!
Dear All,
Following the dramatic events of the last few days, the AG-RAG Steering Group thought we’d update you on the latest situation:
The Government’s Defence Review Announcement – Great News for Us!
We were all pretty elated on Tuesday when the government announced as part of the Defence Review that they were scrapping plans for the new tripartite forces training academy in South Wales, and that Arborfield Garrison was to remain open. We even heard from a source inside the Garrison who was present at the briefing given there on Tuesday morning, that Arborfield could take some of the overspill of personnel from other sites.
This seemed to us that the Arborfield SDL was dead in the water and we could finally celebrate that the rural feel and tranquility of Arborfield had been saved!!
Wokingham Borough Council’s Special executive Meeting on 21/10/10 – More Good News for Us!
Our joy was made even sweeter at the WBC Exec meeting on Thursday night where AG-RAG had pre-submitted 10 written questions to the Exec. Before we could ask some of them, Gary Cowan proposed the following amendment to the recommendation already placed before the Exec:
Gary’s amendment was accepted unanimously by the Executive. At long last, and at the 11th hour and 59th minute, WBC finally appeared to have listened to the views, comments, complaints and objections that we’d been making for many months, and deferred the Masterplan for Arborfield. So surely that was the final nail in the Arborfield SDL coffin for at least the next several years.
But NO, Just When We Thought It Was All Over!
We have received the following e-mail from the Defence Estates who are acting on behalf of the MOD in terms of land sale etc.
I’ve spoken with Gary Cowan about this and his view is that we shouldn’t be too worried by the e-mail. He believes the Defence Estates are simply forward looking to try and set a price for the land for some time in the future.
But, it’s clear the MOD & Defence Estates are still working to sell / develop the land, so the message to everyone in the AG-RAG and in Arborfield Garrison, is that the fight still isn’t over!
Best wishes,
Martin Rutter
Chairman, AG-RAG
07885 339772