Is Cllr Derek Wilson impartial? Or is he breaking the council's own Code of Conduct?

Letter published in the Maidenhead Advertiser in Oct 2014

"Both the National Planning Policy Framework & the RBWM's Local Plan make it clear new schools constitute 'inappropriate development' in the greenbelt. If they are to be approved 'very special circumstances' must be demonstrated by the applicant when the planning application is submitted."

"Cllr Wilson also unfortunately makes reference to the Braywick Court Free School whose proposals involve building on land that is not only in the greenbelt but is part of Braywick Park & therefore public open space. However this scheme is yet to be the subject of a planning application and thus it is wrong of Cllr Wilson to imply in advance of that application that 'very special circumstances' might exist in this case. "

"As chairman of the panel that will be determining this application when it is submitted, he should be seen to be impartial at this stage as required by the council's code of conduct".

Here's Cllr Derek Wilson again talking about details from a confidential council meeting in the local paper, and how he thinks it would be a good idea to remove Braywick Park from the Greenbelt and build a huge new sports centre on it "because you've got a lot of sporting facilities in the park already". 

Yes, why not bulldozer over Sportsable (is that before or after their proposed new development?) and the Rugby Club, and the Rugby and football pitches, and the running track. Who cares right? As long as the developers that get the old Magnet site can make a tidy profit on their new houses...

• If Maidenhead needs a new sports centre then why not redevelop the existing one? 
• If the council cares about public access to sports facilities why move it out of the town centre? 
• Why cannibalise existing (excellent) sporting facilities on Braywick to make it happen? 
• Why sell off the operation of the Magnet already to a private company? (and why have the prices now gone up?).

Did the Section 106 money from other land sales go towards local services in RBWM, or did they go on cleaning up the waterways so the new houses built beside it make a bigger profit for the developers? 

Are some of the developers evading tax by hiding it in Swiss Bank accounts with the help of HSBC?

Do you care about this? Want to help? Please sign our petition to ask RWBM to consider our idea of a 'split site' for Braywick Court School - which would avoid overdeveloping the Winbury School site and avoid building any new buildings on Braywick Park....

Do we need this many school places in this Catchment Area, with Oldfield School now expanded?

The new Braywick Court School is located in the same catchment area as Oldfield Primary School, which is scheduled to be replaced in 2015 by a much larger new school on the nearby site on Bray Road, with double the capacity of the old school to cater for 420 pupils. [CLICK HERE FOR RBWM MAP OF SCHOOL CATCHMENT AREAS]

The case for additional school capacity in the Oldfield and Bray Wards was part of the considerations of a Report dated 24 October 2013 by Angela Wellings, Head of Education and Childcare Services, on the future use of Chiltern Road site. In considering the future options for the Chiltern Road site this report notes, inter alia, that “there is a continued need for new primary school places in Maidenhead, but not in this specific area if the plan to relocate and expand Oldfield Primary School goes ahead.” (Which it has, despite it involving building on Green Belt land also in the flood plain.

"Future use of the Chiltern Road Site" - 24 Oct 2013

Does it make sense to approve plans for additional capacity COUNTER TO RECENT CABINET CONSIDERATIONS by using Green Belt Land and Public Open Space? 

Both expanded schools together would cater for 630 primary age pupils. Why does this catchment area need a further new expanded school? Are there plans to build new homes in this catchment area? Is the catchment area changing?

Wider choice for parents clearly make sense and the Winbury site happily supported up to 90 pupils as recently as 2009, but expansion on this site (to accommodate 210 pupils) at the expense of the local environment seems unnecessary and runs counter to recent Cabinet considerations.

If additional capacity as well as parental choice is the aim, and taking into account that the Chiltern Road site will continue to operate as a school when the New Oldfield school is in operation - why spoil a lovely public Park?

Zoomed in section of the RBWM Catchment Area Map - the brown area '19' is the Oldfield School Catchment area in which Braywick Court School is also.

CLICK HERE to find out a few simple things you can do to help!