Arborfield Garrison Residents Action GroupC/o 1 Gerring RoadArborfieldBerkshireRG2 9NZOpen Letter To:The Prime Minister The Right Hon David Cameron MP10 Downing StreetLondonSW1A 2AA 28
th
May 2010Dear Prime Minister,
The Proposal to Develop the Area around Arborfield (Berkshire) as Part of theEx-Government’s Regional Spatial Strategy
Firstly, may I offer my personal congratulations to you on becoming Prime Minister and wish youevery success and strength in your new post.My reason for writing to you is to make you aware of the monstrous development that is beingproposed for the area around the small, semi rural and peaceful village of Arborfield in Berkshire:Under the ex-government’s Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS), over 13,000 new homes are plannedfor the Wokingham area, of which 3,500 are planned for Arborfield. This would not only destroyour beautiful village environment and tranquillity but also take away playing fields and recreationareas that hundreds of local people and children use every dayWhilst local residents understand the need for some new houses to be built and would acceptsmall tightly controlled development on the brown field site of the Arborfield Garrison if and whenthe MOD have physically vacated it, we totally oppose the plans to bulldoze the green fields andother open spaces around us.We have made our vehement opposition known to Wokingham Borough Council (WBC) and toour MP, John Redwood. Both have advised us that under current legislation, WBC are legallyobliged to meet the RSS demands and find space for the new houses. However, we are alsoadvised that as soon as your Government implements the Conservative manifesto and coalitiondocument promise to abolish the Regional Planning quangos and return power to local councils,WBC will stop the current proposals and start working with local residents to agree wheredevelopment should best take place and in what numbers. Is it not a waste of council tax payers’money to allow WBC to continue implementing the last Government’s housing policy?On behalf of the Arborfield Garrison Residents Action Group, and many more people in thesurrounding villages who will also be blighted by the current development proposals, I implore youto implement your manifesto policy to abolish the SE Regional Planning quango and top downhousing targets, and return power back to WBC and local people as soon as possible.Yours faithfully,Martin Rutter
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