Think tank identifies Taplow as prime location for 'New Town'

‘Underused’ land in Taplow should become the site of a ‘new town’ a think tank has argued – as Keir Starmer has threatened to ‘take on the nimbys’.

The UK Day One think tank says the South Bucks village – between Slough and Maidenhead – is a ‘promising location for a potential New Town’.

It says: “An extension to the town of Maidenhead, at Taplow, has a strong economic growth case. Maidenhead has great rail connections and a strong local economy. It is an attractive area for people seeking more affordable housing outside of London.”

UK Day One also argues that the government should use a compulsory purchase order to seize almost six square kilometres of land around the village to build the town.

It says it could then sell the land on to developers at an increased price, and use the money to fund new services.

The think tank says: “ The secretary of state, using powers granted through a Taplow New Town Act, can issue a compulsory purchase order to buy the land at existing use values, grant permissions for development and then sell the land to developers at the new increased land value to fund the government’s investment in the area.

“The raised funds should be used for the creation of vital public services such as schools and GP clinics in addition to government priorities such as new social homes.”

The argument was part of an article by the think tank – and has not been proposed by the government, a developer or Buckinghamshire County Council.

But it comes as prime minister Keir Starmer promised on Thursday, January 23 to ‘take on nimbys’ – which stands for ‘not in my back yard’ and refers to people who oppose development near them.

The government has argued that freeing up development will result in more affordable housing and increase economic growth.

The government overhauled planning laws to allow more large scale development to take place.

These included increased housing targets and a demand on councils to ‘review’ which areas of the green belt could be earmarked for housing.

Announcing the changes last month, the government said councils should ‘review their greenbelt boundaries to meet targets, identifying and prioritising lower quality grey belt land’.

UK Day One argues that the government should go further and build new towns, including in Taplow.

It says: “The government should consider locations that meet the housing needs of ordinary people and that can drive economic growth. One example is Taplow in Buckinghamshire.

“It sits on the M4 corridor, in a cluster of towns including Bath, Oxford and Reading with high-wage job opportunities, productive businesses, and good rail connections to London.”