RBWM told to 'up your game' after approving unpopular 200-home plan in Cookham

People of Cookham expressed their dissatisfaction with the planning panel last night after an unpopular 200-home scheme was approved in a mammoth five-hour meeting.

The Maidenhead development committee decided the fate of the Cannondown Road scheme and the much smaller (but no less controversial) plan for 20 homes in land at Strande Park.

For the Cannondown homes plan, councillors batted various concerns and technical considerations back and forth.

Several felt that the opportunities for affordable housing in this scheme was one of its major strengths.

But there were concerns about traffic and the usefulness of the proposed bus stop to mitigate this, given Cookham’s current bus service.

Another major concern was around safe routes for school children, including teenagers cycling to Furze Platt.

A motion by Cllr Helen Taylor (TBFI, Oldfield) to defer the decision to a later date subject to a new highways report was ultimately quashed, as officers repeatedly insisted that the existing highways report was sufficient.

After much deliberation, another motion to approve the plan was voted through – seven in favour and two abstentions, namely Cllr Taylor and Cllr Leo Walters (Con, Bray).

“There are no valid reasons that this shouldn’t be approved, this seems,” said Cllr Mark Wilson (Lib Dem, Eton and Castle).

The 199-home scheme was considered under two separate applications – one for 160 homes and the other for the remainder.

These were discussed and voted on separately, with the larger of the two decided first.

Because of this, unusually, members of the public had the chance to speak again on the scheme – and register their feelings about RBWM’s approval.

Cookham resident Paul Strzelecki, who has long been casting a magnifying glass on various proposed housing sites in the village, made his feelings known.

“The level of conversation and debate here [at council] is below what we expect,” he said.

“I spent seven years, a thousand hours, looking at the traffic. That knowledge is extensive.”

He said the village ‘is going to be gridlocked with six times the traffic’ but the proposal used the wrong traffic modelling software, giving the ‘wrong results.’

A new traffic assessment was needed, he said, and had been requested.

“I'm a little bit cross because I think you should elevate your game,” Mr Strzelecki said.

Cookham Parish Council’s chair of planning Jacqui Edwards concurred with his points, especially regarding traffic and parking problems.

She said the absence of a Cookham ward councillor on the panel was very noticeable because ‘many misconceptions have not been corrected.’

Ordinarily, Cllr Mandy Brar (Lib Dem, Bisham and Cookham) would be on this panel, but ‘had to sit out’ this meeting and speak as a member of the public instead.

On bus services, Cllr Edwards said:

"If you want people to get on buses in Cookham, you need to give them the right bus services.

“Our bus service comes all the way from High Wycombe. By the time it gets to Cookham, it's usually running late.

“If you have to go to school and get a detention if you don't turn up on time, you won't get that bus.”

Cllr Edwards also had strong concerns over the safety of children cycling.

The current dual pedestrian cycle route across the road from the development is ‘pretty dangerous’ and ‘needs a serious upgrade,’ she said.

It needs a controlled crossing ‘rather than expecting [schoolchildren] to run across the road like rabbits every morning.’

“[Currently] cars stop for them because they know the local area. They will not necessarily do that if there are lots of extra people on the roads,” Cllr Edwards said.

Cookham ward councillors Cllr Brar and Cllr Mark Howard (also Lib Dem) expressed similar distaste for the plans.

Cllr Brar said called the proposal ‘a nightmare’ that will cause Cookham to be gridlocked, while Cllr Howard called the plans ‘big business, maximum profit.’

“Take the millions – you could have just left us with a safe route to school,” he said.