The View from Shute End...

Wokingham District Councillor Annette Drake reports

The South East Area Plan

The consultation period for The South East Local Plan which will govern economic growth across the South East for the next twenty years is from 24th January to 15th April 2005.

The South East Regional Assembly (SEEDA) formulates the plan, which sets out policy proposals for the region, the counties of Buckinghamshire, Kent, Hampshire, East & West Sussex, Surrey, Oxfordshire and Berkshire.

The proposal is talking about huge numbers of houses for the South East to be built at very high densities and with very restricted parking allowances in residential areas, designed to encourage us to use public transport. Although encouragement to use alternative methods to the car where possible is laudable, car ownership is not going to decrease and the cars need somewhere to park

A questionnaire will be sent to every household in the region asking for views on the three levels of proposed housing growth from 25,000 and 28,000 to 32,000 houses per year in the region from 2006 to 2026. A previous proposal approved by the assembly’s regional planning committee backed targets between the regional planning guidance (RPG) rate at 29,500 and 36,000 homes a year. We already suffer from an infrastructure problem and it is unlikely that contributions from developers will provide the necessary schools, roads, doctors and other community facilities. There will be pressure on all utilities, particularly water.

We have the opportunity to express our views, and I urge you to respond to the consultation. Reasonable numbers of houses, and a properly planned expansion should be the way forward, with Councils making the decision, not SEEDA an unelected body.

Budget Time

Is here again and every item of expenditure is scrutinised in the run up to the Full Council meeting the aim is to keep council tax rises at about the rate of inflation for the next 3 years. The budget proposals will be announced & debated on at the full Council on 24th February when the Council tax will be set.

One of the items, which caused residents unrest this month, was a review of Concessionary Fare Scheme. The result of consultation has concluded that the tokens were very popular and should continue to be available. The solution which the Executive of the Council arrived at was to produce a locally manufactured token to replace the national tokens, these will be of a light weight plastic, at a cost of approx £15,000 and will be distributed by post, (no more queuing in Village Halls) the cost of these tokens will be paid by the Council only when they are used; this will reduce what has otherwise been an increasing annual cost.

Please let me know if you need advice on any Council matter I am available nearly every Saturday morning from 10am - 12 noon, or you may contact me on:

0118 934 xxxx or by email.