Alongside encouraging residents to make their feelings known, we are actively contacting other people who may be of influence or help in our campaign.
The following letter was sent to our prospective parliamentary candidates, John Redwood (Conservative), Mark Ashwell (Independent), Prue Bray (Liberal Democrat) and George Davidson (Labour).
Dear Mr Redwood, Mr Davidson, Mrs Bray and Mr Ashwell,
OPEN LETTER TO THE STANDING LOCAL MP AND PROSPECTIVE PARLIAMENTARY CANDIDATES FOR WOKINGHAM CONSTITUENCY, FROM THE RESIDENTS OF GERRING ROAD, SHEERLANDS ROAD, TYLER DRIVE & BARKER CLOSE, ARBORFIELD
We have been aware for several years that the local MOD site would possibly close at some time in the future, at which time the Garrison site was likely to be redeveloped.
However we have only very recently (i.e. this last week), become aware of the size & extent of the proposed development of Arborfield as part of Wokingham Borough Council’s Strategic Development Plan:
Rather than develop on only brown field sites after the MOD has vacated the area, the plans are to build aggressively and extensively on greenfield sites across the village. Indeed the plans are to build upto 5,000 new houses, a secondary school, 2 new primary schools, a new district centre, a 4000m2 supermarket etc.
This level of development would require the destruction of many hundreds of trees and the loss of green fields & other open spaces currently used as play areas by our children and as quiet recreational areas for many adults. It would also mean a total transformation of our quiet and peaceful semi-rural village setting into a densely populated, busy and noisy small town.
The sense of local outrage at WBC’s plans is so strong that many of the local residents have quickly mobilised over the week-end to form an action group against the development of any green field sites in the area at all. (We reluctantly accept the need for development on brown field sites subject to the stringent condition that the local infrastructure is developed in advance of any new houses).
Please visit the website we have set up over the week-end at: http://www.arborfield-garrison-rag.org.uk/
As this issue will be the Number 1 local issue in the forthcoming General as well as Local Election, we would like to canvass your detailed position now. Specifically, will you support us in fighting any development of green field or other open spaces, instead demanding that development be restricted to brown field sites only?
We look forward to receiving your detailed response. Please note we intend publishing it on our website.
Regards,
Martin Rutter on behalf of the Arborfield Garrison Residents Action Group
So far we have been contacted by a representative of the Mark Ashwell campaign to offer support, and to arrange to meet with us to discuss the matter further.
We have also received this response from John Redwood:
Thank you for your email.
I have written to the Council to explain that there is likely to be a Defence review under the next government, regardless of the outcome of the Election. It is possible such a review will seek to repatriate personnel from Germany, which may require continued use of the Garrison at Arborfield. I have suggested the Council await events until the background to the MOD’s plans and timetable is clearer.
I will of course represent local wishes on these matters if asked to intervene. The main emphasis should be on lobbying Councillors, as they represent the Planning Authority that makes the decision. As you will appreciate this is mainly an issue for the Council, which is the Planning Authority. Should there be a Conservative government after the election measures will be taken to reduce the pressures from central government on Councils to build more homes than local people wish.
We have received this response from Prue Bray, who is the Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidate.
Hallo Mr Rutter
I am not sure how you are going to receive this reply, because I am afraid it doesn’t contain much good news for you. But I think it is much better for me to be honest with you about what has already happened and what is coming than to pretend that I can give you what you want.
I don’t know how the other people you have emailed are going to respond. What I recommend to you is that if any of them tell you they can help you stop this, ask them how they plan to do it, so that you can work out whether they are really telling you the truth. It is very tempting as an election looms for politicians to promise all sorts of things that they know they cannot possibly deliver. I am not going to do that. I realise that by not telling you what you want to hear I may very well lose your vote. If that happens I will be sorry, but I think this country needs more politicians with integrity, and so I will not – and never have – gone down the road of saying anything just to get elected.
Now to explain why I can’t promise you that it is possible to stop development on greenfield sites in Arborfield.
The Core Strategy of Wokingham Borough Council was adopted by the council at the end of January. The Lib Dems did not vote for it. We understand the need for the council to have a strategy, so that it can keep some sort of handle on development – the alternative of not having a strategy would result in a developer free for all. We disagree with some of the content, that is why we did not vote for it. But whether we disagreed or not, the fact is the Conservatives voted to adopt the strategy. That means that there is no longer any scope for fighting whether development will come to Arborfield. The number of houses for the next 20 years for the Arborfield Strategic Development Location has now been fixed at 3500 and cannot be undone. The outline of the area into which they will go has also been fixed, as has the kind of infrastructure that will come with them (schools, roads etc).
I need to be absolutely honest and open with you and say that the Liberal Democrats did not oppose the Core Strategy because it included development at Arborfield. Other parts of the strategy were, if you can believe it, much worse. It would not be fair of me to pretend either that I have been opposed to the principle of building houses at Arborfield for a long time,
or that I – or anybody else – can stop it happening. That is a very important point. The only way the Strategic Development Location can be stopped now is if the MoD decide not to sell the land. If that happens then the whole Core Strategy will be blown out of the water and that would be bad news for everybody, including Arborfield, because we will be looking at huge
amounts of infill development and concreting over even more of the countryside than is currently envisaged by the Core Strategy – and we will get far less infrastructure with that development. For example, the chances of getting a new secondary school in the south of the borough would become very small indeed.So to be blunt, the principle of development of 3500 houses at Arborfield has now been established and it is too late to do anything to stop that. But there are a few more positive things to say.
There is currently – until 23rd March – a consultation being conducted by the council into residents’ views of the detail of how things should be laid out within that Strategic Development Location outline, and there is an exhbition in the foyer of the council offices about it. You can fill in the consultation online on the Borough Council’s website. This is called the “masterplanning” stage, and will result in some documents which lay down some rules for developers. After that will come planning applications. So there are opportunities for you and other residents to help shape the development, even if you cannot stop it. Firstly you can respond to the consultation – and I would be very happy to come and talk to you and other
residents about it over the weekend, if that would help. Secondly, once planning applications start coming in, they will be dealt with in the normal way, with the standard public consultations. Although the principle of development has now been established, that does not mean that the council has to approve any old planning application that comes along, and there will
be the chance to influence the details of the plans. Again, I am happy to come along and talk to you about how to do that when we get to that stage. I do have 10 years of experience as a councillor in dealing with planning issues, which I am more than willing to use to help you try and get the best you can for your area out of this process.The final thing I want to say is about what has happened so far. From your email it sounds as though you were not aware that any of this was going on. I am not blaming you for that. The question is, why did a lot of residents in Arborfield not know what was going on, given the huge impact that the planned development is going to have on your community?
Let me lay out a bit of the history as to how things got to this point. The Core Strategy has been progressing through the system for several years and has been through multiple consultations, including with town and parish councils, one of which was Arborfield. It has also been the subject of a public inquiry (known as the Examination in Public), which took place over
several months in 2009. I know that there have been people from Arborfield involved in previous consultations and in workshops that have taken place and which I have personally attended, including one held in Arborfield last June, which included a tour of the proposed Strategic Development Location. People in Arborfield should have been better informed than most, because the person on the Executive of the Council who has been responsible for piloting the Core Strategy through to adoption from the start is in fact Gary Cowan, your local councillor. I will leave you to think about that for yourself.So, to sum up, I am sorry to have to tell you that the principle and extent of development at Arborfield has now been fixed, and the only way it can be stopped is if the MoD decide not to sell the land. Assuming the sale goes ahead – which is what the council believes will happen – then I would be happy to help you try and get the best you can out of the planning process.
Meanwhile I strongly urge you to respond to the masterplanning consultation that is going on at the moment, and I would be willing to come and talk to you about that over the coming weekend if you thought that might be useful.Finally, can I apologise for such a long email! But I thought it was important to try and make everything as clear as possible. Please come back to me if you have any further questions. And if you think it would help you to talk to other residents groups in other SDL locations, I can probably help with that too.
Best Wishes
Prue Bray
This is the response we have received from George Davidson who is standing in the Wokingham Constituency for the Labour Party.
Dear Mr Rutter,
Thank you for your letter. I understand your concern about Wokingham Council’s plans to allow this huge area to be built on.
Wokingham Council have fudged the decision about providing housing for too long. For this reason there is now very little affordable housing in the area. It is almost impossible for young people either to afford to buy or rent on the borough. So now they are solving the problem in a ham-fisted way by building such a massive development in one go. I do believe though that it is essential that we build housing to provide homes for the people of this country. I have met too many young people who can no longer afford to rent or buy and who have returned home to live with parents. Building new homes also creates jobs for builders, plasterers, fitters, sparks, plumbers and labourers. When the new owners need to fill the home with carpets and fridges and furniture then the economy gets a further boost.
I believe the priority should be to build on brownfield land in the first instance. To say I was surprised by Wokingham BC’s decision to support the release of all of this land for housing would be an understatement.
WBC have a very poor history with this kind of development. In Lower Earley they simply failed to deliver what they could have done. The Section 106 money (which is the contribution made by developers to the fabric of the community in return for building thousands of new homes) was wasted. They promised a new secondary school and this was never built. Given that the Arborfield development looks very likely to go ahead, at least in some form, your group might want to think about what you would like delivered for the local community. A new school? A new road layout? A community centre? Then we can monitor WBC and the developer to ensure this is delivered.
I believe MPs and PPCs should do their best to represent their constituency so I would like to offer my help to the Action Group. I would like to help you to lobby the Secretary of State to amend the recommendation put forward by Wokingham Council.
Please let me know if you are interested in pursuing this further.
best wishes,
George
