Fears over future of greenbelt after release of 'bombshell' housing report

A ‘bombshell’ report which suggests building thousands of homes across the borough to meet housing demand in Berkshire has raised question marks over the future of the greenbelt.

Planning consultants Stantec UK Ltd compiled a Wider Area Growth Study on behalf of the Royal Borough and Slough Borough Council to see which areas may be suitable for future housing developments.

The report concludes that Maidenhead, Windsor and particularly Slough are facing strong demand for housing and questions whether each local authority will be able to meet its housing needs.

It predicts a housing shortfall of 13,500 homes by 2039 and identifies areas such as Paley Street as being suitable for a new community of more than 10,000 homes and land west of Cookham suitable for 1,200 homes.

Cookham resident Paul Strzelecki, a long-standing campaigner against the Borough Local Plan, said the report raised worrying questions over the future of greenbelt land in Windsor and Maidenhead.

He said: “The study was a background to meet unmet need but it’s also a study for where you would build in the borough and it shows it’s going to be built in the greenbelt.

“It’s an entire greenbelt build and if you add up the acreage you’re talking percentages of greenbelt being eaten away,” he added.

Mr Strzelecki described the report as a ‘bombshell’ and questioned whether it could be used as part of the council’s planning for its next Borough Local Plan from 2033 onwards.

The report outlined the following areas as options for future housing developments:

W Paley Street – Capacity for 10,400 homes in a new community

W A308 East of Holyport – Capacity for 4,500 new homes

W Land including White Waltham Airfield – Capacity for 1,300 homes

W Land west of Cookham near Long Lane – Capacity for 1,200 homes

Councillor Andrew Johnson, the Conservative leader of Windsor and Maidenhead council, said he disagreed with the report’s conclusions. He said he would have to be ‘dragged kicking and screaming’ if asked to provide land for Slough’s surging housing demand. He added he is against further greenbelt development in the Borough and insisted the report ‘will not see the light of day again’.

He explained: “It’s no secret that for quite some time Slough had been saying it couldn’t meet its housing growth target within the geographical boundaries of Slough and there was talk of that being displaced to South Bucks and Windsor and Maidenhead.

“In order to demonstrate we’ve met the duty to cooperate for our BLP we had to do these various studies which theoretically might accommodate future growth.

“If Slough come knocking, the response will be: ‘that’s your problem, not mine. I’m not releasing any of my greenbelt to build your houses on, sort your own problems out.’”

He also dismissed the idea the report could be used to inform any future Borough Local Plan.

“There’s a bit of rumour this is somehow the successor to the BLP, not at all. We won’t start thinking about that until the end of this decade. Who knows what national policy will be like in seven to eight years' time.”