Viewpoint: The 'South East England Housing Crisis'

Simon Dudley and the housing crisis narrative

While I was reading Maidenhead Development News (The Advertiser) last week, I spied an interesting snippet on page 14.

It was the terribly sad news that Simon Dudley, like so many of his colleagues, is deserting the Conservative Party for Reform UK.

Simon says he is desperately concerned about the housing crisis in this country.

That’s apparently the reason he’s deserting the Good Ship Tory for HMS Reform, you see.

It’s nothing to do with the fact that there is little chance of him becoming an MP if he remains on board the Good Ship Tory.

It’s because he cares you see.

Simon says he cares about there not being enough homes for young people in this country.

Simon says there are not enough homes in Maidenhead apparently.

Despite the fact that, under the Tories and his leadership in particular, Maidenhead is now stuffed with endless ugly blocks of flats and literally choked with traffic.

There’s the good old Correctional Facility, ironically sited opposite Maidenhead Heritage Centre.

Alongside many new blocks of flats, there’s a shocking new eyesore opposite Waitrose, enough to put customers off their quinoa. And there are yet more high-rise blocks being built on the old Magnet Leisure Centre site.

And let’s not forget the appalling construction that is Number One Maidenhead, or as I prefer to call it, Number Two Maidenhead.

You can see it from miles away – unfortunately.

I think the developers also saw tenants coming, as the rents for ‘vibrant two-bed apartments’ are often over £2,000pcm.

And ironically, developers of No 2 Maidenhead are concerned that The Honeypot ‘Gentlemen’s Club’ is spoiling the image of Maidenhead.

Of course, Simon Dudley was also the prime mover in destroying the poor old Maidenhead Golf Course.

Mr Dudley and indeed this stupid government constantly whine on about the Housing Crisis.

There is no ‘Housing Crisis’. There is a ‘South East England Housing Crisis’.

There is a housing crisis in London and the South East, because the idiots in central government have never properly directed investment away from here to the North of Britain.

Over the years, this has resulted in huge numbers of young people being forced to move to the South East to get good jobs…and homes.

The current bunch of losers are actually championing a THIRD runway for Heathrow and I believe, a SECOND runway for Gatwick.

So much for the concerns of Ed Sillybillyband at The Ministry for Energy Security and Nitwit Zero.

These are the very words of a Gatwick spokesperson, regarding Gatwick expansion: “It will help drive economic growth, business growth and tourism growth – inject an additional £1billion into the economy every year, and create 14,000 jobs across the region.”

Yes, and yet more demand for much-needed homes and yet more traffic chaos.

The South East England Housing Crisis is of course not helped by Yvette Cooper’s total failure to ‘smash the gangs’, who are facilitating uncontrolled and unending illegal immigration into this country, particularly into South East England.

However, you can be sure that there will be no end of public-spirited developers looking to create much-needed profits to satisfy the ever-increasing South East England Housing Crisis.

Simon will be pleased.

MALCOLM STRETTEN

Riverside 

Councillor’s statement contradicted by leaflet

Cllr Coneron, leader of the local Conservative group, stated in her letter (Viewpoint, February 13) that she was not involved in local or national politics until approached by Jack Rankin MP to stand in the October 2024 by-election for Sunninghill and Ascot.

In the winter of 2022, Cllr Coneron featured on a leaflet as a candidate for Clewer East in the May 2023 elections, albeit she withdrew before the election took place.

Are we to expect Cllr Coneron was unaware she had been through a candidate selection process, written a bio and thousands of leaflets with her face on had been printed and delivered in 2022?

Honesty matters.

F TATTERSALL

Riverside 

Politicians change when parties are in power

Welcome, Councillor Coneron, to the cut-throat world of politics (Viewpoint, February 13).

Something happens to Councillors and Members of Parliament of all parties when their party changes from being in opposition to being in government.

Promises, like pie-crusts, are made to be broken, so the old adage goes and all parties practise it literally when that magic day comes that they take power.

Voters are never told the real truth because political parties know that it sounds the death knell for winning an election.

There are two useful words that they should learn’ ‘hopes’, ‘aspirations’.

When drawing up a manifesto use those instead of, ‘We will do this’.

Another problem is that ideology gets in the way of common sense. Circumstances alter cases and this is where common sense should come into play.

Will it ever happen? Probably not.

DIANE HAYES

Hearne Drive

Holyport 

Braywick should be a sporting hub for town

I write in response to Jonathan Neal’s letter from last week’s issue (Viewpoint, February 13).

I can remind him the football club is proposing a ground and not a stadium; semantics you may say, but completely different in terms of scale (5,000 as opposed to 20,000, a stadium).

He references roads being developed – surely this is to aid flow of traffic – one of the major concerns?

As for a ‘stand and floodlights’ – what did he expect a ground to be composed of – jumpers for goalposts?

The area he references is sparingly used by the public (not in the hundreds, but up to) and is in ‘poor’ physical condition; the club’s plans have been welcomed by those leading biodiversity, as the investment will benefit the nature reserve and the environment.

Braywick should be welcomed and promoted as the sporting hub within the town.

NAME AND ADDRESS SUPPLIED

Taking a closer look at neighbourhood plan

Following independent examination, the Maidenhead Neighbourhood Plan (MNP) will now go to Public Referendum on Thursday, March 19.

If approved, the Plan will be adopted by RBWM and used to guide future planning decisions in Maidenhead, alongside Borough Local Plan and Government policies.

Developed over three years by local residents, with successive consultations and expert advice from grant funded studies, the MNP proposes detailed planning policies on Design, Housing, Getting About, Climate, Built Heritage and Biodiversity.

The full MNP and information on how to vote can be seen at mnf.org.uk/

Ahead of the referendum, members of key MNP topic groups will be writing for Viewpoint a selection of letters outlining how they developed the final policies and the rationale for each.

If you live in the seven wards of Maidenhead (Furze Platt, Pinkneys Green, Boyn Hill, Oldfield, Altwood, St Mary’s, Riverside) we very much hope you will support the Plan with your vote on March 19.

ANDREW INGRAM & IAN ROSE

Co-Chairs

Maidenhead Neighbourhood Forum