Maidenhead Neighbourhood Plan: How will it affect residents?

The referendum on the Maidenhead Neighbourhood Plan – with which residents can ‘make a difference’ to how the town develops – is fast approaching.

Once a neighbourhood plan is formally approved, it becomes one of the official planning documents that councils must follow when making planning decisions.

If a development scheme goes against these policies, RBWM has stronger grounds to refuse it, and planning inspectors must also take this into account if the decision is appealed.

The plan will be given weight when planning decisions are made in Maidenhead, but what does it include, and how will it directly impact residents?

It would cover the seven unparished areas in Maidenhead: Boyn Hill, Oldfield, Pinkneys Green, Riverside, St Mary’s, Belmont and Furze Platt.

Some aspects the plan will look at: housing mix, public transport and parking, and green spaces / biodiversity.

Housing mix 

The housing mix in Maidenhead has long been a controversial topic among councillors and residents.

A target for the number of homes and apartments needed in an area is set by the Government.

The borough is supposed to show it has enough approved or planned sites to build at least five years’ worth of those homes. This is called the five-year housing land supply.

However, currently, RBWM isn’t meeting this.

This causes a ‘tilted balance’, meaning that significant weight is given to residential developments in planning decisions, unless these schemes have other negative impacts.

In other words, if a developer were to appeal a council refusal of a scheme for new homes, the planning inspectorate would be more likely to overturn RBWM’s decision.

A neighbourhood plan does not remove the ‘tilted balance’, but it can help manage its effects and strengthen the council’s position in planning decisions.

Second, it can set clear local policies about where housing should go and what type is needed.

The Maidenhead Neighbourhood Plan aims to have ‘sufficient affordable housing’ in the areas it covers, with a ‘balanced’ housing stock.

It calls for more three and four-bedroom homes to be built, recognising the greater need for family houses.

House prices in Maidenhead have risen by more than 50 per cent, the plan says, lending weight to the case for affordable housing.

In addition, 515 households are currently waiting for social housing to become available, the plan states.

The neighbourhood plan specifies that developments of 10 or more dwellings should, as such, deliver a minimum of 40 per cent affordable housing in greenfield areas.

All other sites should offer 30 per cent affordable housing.

Public transport and parking

Many residents commute into London by train but struggle to find parking in and around the town centre, with residential developments in the area also offering limited parking.

The plan supports the inclusion of public transport interchange facilities for ‘convenient and easy’ connections between train and bus services.

It sets out station and rail developments, including Maidenhead railway station, which it says should have shelters with seating and power, real-time information boards and route maps.

Although the plan supports lower car ownership, it stresses that an ‘unrealistic assumption’ that people will predominantly travel via public transport will only put more pressure on traffic.

It said: “The shift toward cleaner hybrid or electric vehicles is likely to accelerate further.

“But the absence of a dense, convenient, frequent and affordable local public transport network – serving all desired directions of travel – means that the private vehicle will continue to dominate transport needs in Maidenhead for the foreseeable future.”

Outside the town centre, all new developments should also provide ‘adequate’ levels of parking.

Green spaces and biodiversity

Maidenhead is an urban area, and with the increased housing pressure and more commercial developments, green spaces are often negatively impacted.

National and local policies, such as the Borough Local Plan (BLP), already ask that developers restore nature by bringing back 10 per cent of biodiversity net gain.

But the Maidenhead Neighbourhood Plan adds to that – and asks that biodiversity net gain needs to be planned within the borough.

In the town centre, for example, the plan says roof gardens and green walls are an alternative for habitats and plants to grow.

Local green spaces will also be protected, and developments in these areas will need to be ‘consistent’ with the rules that apply to the borough’s greenbelt.

The protected green sites listed include Pinkneys Green, Sailing Club Lake, Oaken Grove Park, Boyn Grove Park and Desborough Park.

What now?

The final stage on the neighbourhood plan process is the opportunity for the public to vote on it in a local referendum next week.

Residents can vote either in person, by post or by proxy on Thursday, March 19.

The full list of polling stations, which will be open from 7am to 10pm,  is:

• A mobile unit at St Marks Hospital, St Mark’s Road, Maidenhead SL6 6DU
• St Luke’s Community Hall, Norfolk Road, Maidenhead SL6 7AX
• All Saints Parish Centre, Church Close, Boyn Hill Road, Maidenhead SL6 4HE
• St Edmund Campion Parish Centre, 40a Altwood Road, Maidenhead SL6 4PY
• Furze Platt War Memorial Hall, Furze Platt Road, Maidenhead SL6 7NG
• St Peter’s Church Centre, St Peter’s Road, Maidenhead SL6 SL6 7QU
• Furze Platt Scout HQ, 194 Cookham Road, Maidenhead SL6 7HN
• Larchfield Community Centre, Desborough Park, Desborough Crescent, Maidenhead SL6 4BB
• Ascot and Bray Rooms, Town Hall, St Ives Road, Maidenhead SL6 1RF
• Desborough Bowling Club, 10 Green Lane, Maidenhead SL6 1XZ
• The Methodist Church, St Mark’s Crescent, Maidenhead SL6 5DG
• Riverside Children’s Centre, West Dean, via Ray Mill Road West, Maidenhead SL6 7PA
• A mobile Unit at Boulters Lock Car Park, Lower Cookham Road, Maidenhead SL6 8JT
• Desborough Theatre Lobby, Town Hall, St Ives Road, Maidenhead SL6 1RF
• Maidenhead Community Centre, 4 Marlow Road, Maidenhead SL6 7YR
• The Council Chamber, Town Hall, St Ives Road, Maidenhead, SL6 1RF