Whilst the schools may have broken up for the holidays, events around the development continue to move on.
Thanks to everybody for the steady stream of copies of feedback to the Marino Family Trust over their woeful exhibition. It is clear that rather than assuage any concerns about the development the lack of detail in the exhibition had much the opposite effect. There has been a good deal of press coverage with an article in both the Wokingham Times, and also an article published in the local papers over in Hampshire highlighting how Eversley residents were ignored in the limited promotion for the exhibition. It is interesting to note the disagreement between MFT and Wokingham over whether Eversley should have been included with MFT saying Wokingham asked them not to send details to addresses in Eversley, whereas Wokingham are saying that they were only asked for addresses in specific parishes.
The article that appeared in this weeks Wokingham Times, which has yet to appear online also asked Curtin and Co, the representatives of the Crest Nicholson led consortium developing the northern part of the SDL about their upcoming consultation. Disappointingly they told the paper that they are planning to mount their consultation during August at the height of the summer holidays when many people will be away, a decision that runs contrary to their supposed desire to consult as widely as possible. There are also comments from Arborfield councillor Gary Cowan highlighting concerns that the applications from the two groups must be considered together.
Much like Curtin and Co and Crest Nicholson, Wokingham Borough Council is also continuing to make key decisions during the holiday period. The agenda for the Executive Meeting this Thursday, 31st July contains a number of important issues. Firstly the new secondary school for the south comes up under item 31. The report amongst the agenda papers highlights the ambitious schedule the council has set themselves, and in the section on capital funding highlights this as a key challenge due to the school being brought forward well in advance of when the funding from developers will be available. Whilst there is now an enthusiastic parent reference group organised by the council in operation, it is fair to say that confidence amongst parents whose children fall into the critical period for secondary transfers is not high. We are aware of families moving out of the area purely because they do not believe the council will deliver, with other families that can afford to looking seriously at private education for their children because they know that their children will have no choice over which school they will go to. As a contingency we would urge Wokingham Borough Council to consider putting a fairer tie breaker in place for their four schools, perhaps based on the segmented Oakbank tie breaker, that would give parents in the southern parishes more confidence that they will have some choice over places should the council not manage to deliver a school as promised.
Also on the agenda for Thursday is designation of a combined neighbourhood plan area for Arborfield and Newland, and Barkham parish council areas. Ensuring we have a Neighbourhood Plan in place is very important as under the recent Localism Bill it provides additional funding to our local parishes from central government.
Whilst not directly related to our SDL, another interesting item is item 44, where it seems that Wokingham Borough Council is getting into the Pick Your Own Fruit and Veg business by buying Gray’s Farm over in Heathlands Road. Under the plan the farm, which was on the market anyway, will remain open until the end of the 2017 season, but then will close and become part of the South Wokingham SDL which abuts the farm to both the north and east. Following closure in 2017 it will be converted into the sports hub for the South Wokingham SDL. Whilst it is certainly sad to see a popular local business go, it is perhaps not surprising as the farm would not be nearly so attractive with thousands of houses surrounding it in a few years time, and with the council buying it that at least ensures that it will remain as open space rather than being picked up by a developer.
