On the 24th June 2010, Wokingham Borough Council plans to discuss and potentially adopt "masterplans" for 2,500 new homes in Shinfield Parish at a meeting of the Council's Executive. If these masterplans are adopted, much of housing will end up in Shinfield with smaller numbers in Three Miles Cross and Spencers Wood in the main built upon open green land around our villages.

In both the Conservative and Liberal Democrat election manifestos, promises were made to abolish the regional housing targets and return decision making powers on housing numbers and planning to local councils. In the recently published document "Our Programme for Government ", the Coalition clearly states the intention to follow this through (see section 4 of the document for this commitment). SRAG believes it is time for the Government to rapidly step in and stop the destruction of so much green land across our villages.

For a number of years we have been told that the unpopular strategy to build so many houses was the result of the previous Government's regional housing targets. With the impending abolition of these targets, now is the time for a proper and thorough review of the Wokingham's Core Strategy. Hand in hand with this must also be a call to the Government to ensure that no large scale planning applications on previously undeveloped land are approved without this review, thereby preventing developers pushing through applications on appeal against the will of the Community and the Borough Council.

We have posted a template letter that you can complete and send to Eric Pickles (Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government) and John Redwood (MP for Wokingham) which calls upon their urgent intervention into these important matters. Please take the time to complete and send this letter. We'd be grateful if you'd send a copy of your response to SRAG too (enquiries@srag.org). Now is the time to influence our future.

More houses means more traffic congestion through the village, pollution, disruption and loss of countryside.

This is YOUR VILLAGE and YOUR LAST CHANCE to have a say where the development goes.

See SRAG official response to this proposal.

Wokingham Borough Council’s 3 proposed options (look at 4-South of M4 Planning Options for Shinfield).

planning applications to develop the South of the M4 in line with the Wokingham Borough Core Strategy

http://www2.wokingham.gov.uk/environment/planning/news-and-information/shaping-our-communities/exhibitions-questionnaires