Articles and Speeches

Planning, A Step in the Right Direction
21-Oct-05, Windsor Express Article.

"With beautiful and charming villages like Wraysbury, the Sunnings, Ascot, Winkfield and Windsor itself, we certainly live in a lovely constituency. So I am relieved that something good seems to have happened for all of us concerned about over-development.

The Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead has announced it will only approve future planning applications for affordable housing or which significantly benefit the local area.

Having campaigned for more than two years to stop over-development and the stress it causes to residents my first reaction is – Hurrah! This is a welcome step in the right direction.

For too long, residents in the Windsor constituency have been faced with an uphill battle with the council to stop development approvals.

It is, however, a pity that so many houses have already been demolished and green areas lost by this delayed decision. It is also likely that there will now be a rush of planning applications because the deadline is no sooner than the end of October.

We must also be acutely aware that this announcement will not completely stop overdevelopment in the area. Government planning policy still encourages developers to appeal to the Secretary of State if their planning application is refused locally and, as we know, the Secretary of State frequently overrules our local decisions.

So we must continue to fight against insensitive overdevelopment which is a continued threat to our environment and places pressure on our roads, schools and GP surgeries."