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paulstevens24
Oct 7, 20235 min read
Infrastructure
Here’s a surprise! Mystic Meg predicts more houses for Wokingham. (WBC Infrastructure newsletter, 4th October 2023). Ok, so the graphic...
142 views0 comments
paulstevens24
Sep 20, 20233 min read
Hall Farm alternatives
We have known for a long time that viable alternatives to building houses at Hall Farm are being ignored by Wokingham Borough Council. As...
331 views0 comments
paulstevens24
Sep 1, 20233 min read
Over my dead body?
A recent Blog Post dealt with aspects of research carried out by the University of Reading (UoR) but it was pointed out to me by one...
307 views1 comment
paulstevens24
Aug 27, 20232 min read
Remind Clive Jones what he used to stand up for!
Back in April 2022 SOLVE Hall Farm held a demonstration against the proposed building of 4,500 houses at Hall Farm, outside the gates of...
392 views1 comment
paulstevens24
Aug 16, 20234 min read
How now, Uni-cow?
While we await the much-anticipated Local Plan for Wokingham it feels like a good time to consider some of the wider issues around land...
607 views2 comments
paulstevens24
Jul 25, 20233 min read
People, places, and plans.
Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, has been out and about on the media circuit today. It comes...
221 views1 comment
Pat Phillipps
Jul 10, 20234 min read
A Tale of Two Parish Councils
Pat Phillipps United reponse? In January 2022, Arborfield and Newland Parish Council and Shinfield Parish Council gave their consultation...
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paulstevens24
Jun 23, 20235 min read
Where did those housing numbers come from?
The Hall Farm proposal first appeared in the Tory council’s November 2021 draft local plan update. At that point, Cllr Lindsay Ferris,...
265 views0 comments
Pat Phillipps
Jun 9, 20234 min read
Responses to the planning reform consultation
Pat Phillipps Tory housing policy 2020 Tory housing policy 2023 We’re told this country has a housing crisis: we...
93 views1 comment
paulstevens24
May 31, 20232 min read
What now for the Loddon Valley at Hall Farm?
I see in the Reading Chronicle that a “local councillor” has been asking Steve Barclay M.P. “When will the new Royal Berkshire Hospital...
1,071 views6 comments
Pat Phillipps
May 18, 20234 min read
How will the housing numbers change?
This blog has strongly opposed building 4,500 houses in the Loddon Valley countryside area around Hall Farm, and has suggested an...
121 views0 comments
paulstevens24
May 10, 20233 min read
After the local elections, what next?
The local elections are over, but the local issues remain. Especially, what is to happen about the local housing plan update that the...
420 views1 comment
paulstevens24
Apr 28, 20232 min read
Can someone please explain "eco-savvy"?
"SEVEN Reading schools got eco-savvy at a University of Reading event which challenged students to explore ways of tackling one of...
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Pat Phillipps
Apr 28, 20234 min read
Election prospects-another hung Council?
It's time to look ahead and think about what the future might hold for our rural environment in the Shinfield-Arborfield area. We are...
72 views1 comment
paulstevens24
Apr 21, 20232 min read
Reflections on the Liberty of Newland.
The Parish of Arborfield and Newland is 75 years old today. On the 21st March 1948 the first meeting of the new Council elected Brigadier...
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Pat Phillipps
Apr 16, 20234 min read
Reading University and its ‘Environmentally Focused Decisions’
Pat Phillipps At a lavish ceremony at St James’s Palace last year, the University of Reading received the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for...
1,639 views0 comments
Pat Phillipps
Apr 8, 20234 min read
Are you an interested party?
In January, WBC Leader Clive Jones heralded a ‘new approach’ to the way the Borough Council draws up its strategy and policies....
172 views0 comments
Pat Phillipps
Mar 26, 20233 min read
Changing the draft Local Plan: How Difficult?
Pat Phillipps The SOLVE group tried again earlier in March to have a constructive dialogue with Wokingham LibDem leaders, this time in...
142 views0 comments
Pat Phillipps
Mar 7, 20234 min read
Why John Halsall did nothing wrong.
In a recent post, I highlighted former Wokingham Borough Council leader John Halsall’s enthusiastic public support for the Shinfield...
250 views3 comments
Pat Phillipps
Mar 3, 20234 min read
Did Borough Council ‘predetermine’ planning application?
On 24th March 2021 Wokingham Borough Council’s Planning Committee granted Shinfield Studios planning permission to set up in Thames...
487 views2 comments