By Cllr Simon Robinson
Last week was a very difficult one for many residents in our neighbourhoods north of the river and I am sure for many in central Reading too.
The decision made by the Labour Group at the planning applications meeting last Wednesday to approve outline planning permission for the building of 223 houses on the former Reading Golf Club course was simply wrong. Wrong for the community of Emmer Green, wrong for the residents of Caversham who will face additional traffic and pollution and wrong for Reading.
Despite the arguments made on numerous occasions by the Labour councillors on the planning committee – that we desperately need affordable housing, that the land of the former golf course is private property and that Reading’s Local Plan was no longer relevant as the developers had changed their approach – this was simply not acceptable.
In firmly opposing the development, along with my Conservative colleagues, Cllr Clarence Mitchell, Cllr Jane Stanford-Beale and Cllr Paul Carnell, I stated that Reading has 137 identified brownfield sites that could provide up to 13,000 new homes so we have no shortage of available land for development. Why build on beautiful open space and lose more than 100 trees? There is no need especially given the council’s regular boasts of being a leader in fighting climate change.
As for the golf course being private land, yes it is, as are most sites that come before the council for planning permission. This was not an issue but the Labour group seemed to think this was justification for granting permission and as for the ridiculous excuses made for climbing down on the Local Plan; simply put, if the Labour group had thought that this was no longer valid then they should have voted through the necessary changes and we would have a new Local Plan.
This is not the first time we have seen this Labour-run council push disastrous decisions through and ignore the very people and the communities they are supposed to serve. 4,500 objections from the residents this time – some 10,000 overall – as well as objections by all the leading resident associations and groups on the environment; all were ignored in favour of the developers and Reading Golf Club.
After my speech to the committee, I was accused of being anti-capitalist and other arguments were made in an attempt to divert from the realities that I had presented in the committee members.
In answer to this, yes I do believe in a free market but one that is beneficial to all not one that drives an unsustainable development in our community leaving the outcomes of increased traffic that will cause further misery, increased pollution, the lack of valuable open space and irreparable damage to our environment along with increased pressure on our already overstretched infrastructure north of the river. And, for what? So that Reading Golf Club members and the developer can exit stage left with handsome profits?
After so many years of Labour rule locally, we clearly need real change in Reading and the elections in May, being all out elections, will be a great opportunity for the residents of our town to make a change for the better and to vote out this Labour-run council. An administration that for far too long has not acted in the best interests of our community and certainly doesn’t care about the views of residents or their local environment as can be seen from the decision they took over the golf club land in Emmer Green last week.
Whilst I appreciate the Conservative brand may sometimes be dented by headlines about what happens, or has happened, in Westminster, I urge Reading’s voters to see beyond what the newspapers and broadcast media put across and to recognise that at a local level we genuinely care about our communities, our people, the environment, our jobs and our local economy. All those are what really matter for your local Conservative councillors.
So please think carefully about what you wish to see in future as regards who runs our council. Labour have been failing Reading for too long.
In just two months’ time, you have the choice to start changing our town for the better.
Cllr Simon Robinson, Conservative Member for Peppard Ward, Reading Borough Council
