A THIRD protest is planned to urge the Royal Borough Council to reject the blueprint that will earmark thousands of homes in the borough.
Environmental campaign group Maidenhead Great Park is set to go for round three in February as they are set to make their voices heard outside the town hall.
Hundreds of people have protested twice last year urging the council to reject the anticipated borough local plan 2013-2033, which has been ten years in the making and is expected to be considered by council next month.
Within the local plan, the 132-acre Maidenhead golf course, which is earmarked for over 2,000 homes, has been a particularly contentious site and protesters have been campaigning to keep the town’s green lung from being concreted over.
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The council bought the golf course’s lease for nearly £16m last year.
Tina Quadrino, one of the leading members of Maidenhead Great Park, said: “Many local people are utterly dismayed within this plan, which despite the fact we are in a climate emergency, will see the destruction of publically owned greenspace, including thousands of trees.
“So much development has already taken place in our town centre, with over 6,000 new homes built or given planning permission since 2013. Many of these are flats and people need access to more green space for their physical and mental health and wellbeing, not less.
“Our council is using out-of-date figures for housing need in our area to justify the destruction of our green space. They say there’s nowhere else to build, but any development should be focused on brownfield sites and there are plenty available in our borough.”
The local plan is currently being reviewed by the planning inspectorate where a final report is set to be published relatively shortly and will be published on the council’s website when the paper is completed.
Councillor David Coppinger (Con: Bray), lead member for Planning: “The content of the Local Plan should not come as a surprise as it has been shaped over more than a decade, including through a series of public consultations and public examination by an independent Planning Inspector. The redevelopment of Maidenhead Golf Course is a crucial part of the next phase of Maidenhead’s regeneration.
“The club site offers a highly sustainable location, which, once complete, will deliver more than 2,000 desperately needed homes, especially houses, with 30% of the properties being affordable, in addition to a new primary and secondary school, and a community hub.
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"It will open up significant parts of green space for public access, improve walking and cycling connectivity for residents. It will accommodate future population growth while preventing speculative green belt development across the borough through the adoption of a sound Local Plan.”
The demonstration will be held outside Maidenhead Town Hall on Tuesday, February 8 at 6:30pm.
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