Former WWRA Chairman, and Chartered Civil Engineer, John Holdstock gave a detailed report on planning issues to the 2017 AGM. Here’s a bullet point summary of his planning report.
BOROUGH LOCAL PLAN
- Borough Local Plan will define the Borough’s strategic objectives.
Housing
- Local Plan proposes to build 650 dwellings on the Green Belt land that lies to the west of Ruddlesway and extends to the Oakley Green Road.
- Whilst there is need for more housing, the impact on local infrastructure and services will be heavy and the Green Belt that separates Windsor from Maidenhead is being eroded.
- Air pollution due to excessive levels of particulates, nitrous oxide and ozone causes 50,000 unnecessary deaths in the UK each year. That is twice the population of Windsor.
www.eea.europa.eu/publications/air-quality-in-europe-2016 http://www.wwra.org.uk/
- Heavy traffic volumes entering our historic town cause unsafe levels of pollution at the Clarence Road roundabout and at the junction of Imperial Road with St Leonards Road, where World Health safety limits are exceeded. The main roads into the town must be heavily polluted too.
- Re-siting the town centre coach and car parks on a park and ride facility outside the town could alleviate these problems and improve the lives of local residents.
- It would also allow the town centre parking to be redeveloped to provide over 100 dwellings and leisure amenities.
- It has been suggested that the Borough Local Plan should include such a scheme and we await their response. Details can be seen on the illustration.
Further Consultation on the Borough Local Plan
- Following consultation, the draft Borough Local Plan has now been removed from the council’s website and is being revised.
- A further 6 week consultation on the Local Plan is planned to take place between April & June 2017
NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN
- Windsor Neighbourhood Plan gives us a say on planning decisions.
- It will include policies on environment and open space, the appearance of new development, getting around our town, housing and community facilities and working and shopping.
- The group who are producing the Neighbourhood Plan are all volunteers and they have carried out widespread consultations and have produced a draft plan on which we have been able to comment.
- A final draft plan now being produced and, in due course, residents will have the opportunity to vote whether to accept it as a policy document to be used in reaching planning decisions.
- You can learn more by visiting the group’s webpage at http://www.windsorplan.org.uk/
- Businesspeople are producing the Windsor 2030 Plan for central Windsor.
- You can learn more by visiting the web windsor2030.org.uk
Conversion of Houses into Flats
- A recent planning application seeks to transform a modest 3 bedroomed family dwelling into 6 separate dwellings. The owner wishes to designate each as being a self-contained flat.
- Concern over impact of this development on the local environment and on the lives of people living nearby.
- The Windsor Neighbourhood Plan group are examining ways in which this type of development may be properly controlled.
Homes of multiple occupation
These are dwellings that are shared by multiple users. They have to be regulated, to ensure conformity with appropriate standards & the Borough’s Environmental Health Department is responsible for doing this.
John Holdstock