Something good is happening in Berkshire, (I really mean the Thames Valley), which is welcome. Or is it too little, too late? The evidence hints that council leaders are scared of speaking the truth. Which is an engrained mind-set as the truth can be fatal in places like the Thames Valley where residents want prosperity but turn their backs on the consequences. Since the 70’s it was not a case growing nimbyism but a case of We Want the Jobs, You Take the Houses, or WWJYoTH!
What I am on about is the mind-set of Berkshire’s council leaders..In March 2024 Berkshire’s six local authorities set up the Berkshire Prosperity Board with worthy intentions. Formation of the Board a welcome, and easy to dismiss as better late than never. Actually it is a major achievement measured by past cross-border hostilities. The crude reality is that nimbyism was invented in Berkshire in the late 70’s and delivered in the 80’s. So successful, so rampant was it that by the millennium toxic nimbyism was taking root far and wide.
This split personality mind-set has not gone away. And the council leaders know this remains the case. Which is why the Berkshire Prosperity Board’s objectives, (see their website), are hidden in dense jargon, sure to bore the average reader in no time. The Board’s role is to bridge the fault-line between those who want growth and those who passionately believe there is no need for local land change near them.
If the Board is serious about driving economic growth in the Thames Valley it would start with a ordinary visual Mission Statement that defines a sensible timetable to produce a spatial plan of their long term vision for the region. They say a picture speaks a thousand words.Well a plan can do it in a hundred words. What do you look at when reading the sales details of a house? First you look at the picture; second you look at the location; and third you look at the floor plan, and then you start to ponder ……this: does it work for you?
So we need a spatial plan for the Thames Valley. One which identities the places where land use will never change, where it could change and where maybe can be made suitable for change ,Lots of material here for vociferous debate, which is just what democratic leaders need. So when a regional two generations long 2026-2084 spatial plan is adopted, after long debate, residents knee-jerk, spontaneous anger at unexpected change will be replaced by aspirations for improvement. And we are all for that, are’t we?
Want an example. Look at the blog here dated 23 September 2026, How to build more homes. Now draw the lines to show where the triangle of growth sites fits. If you don’t like it, why not? But instead where do you propose putting the future growth that your children’s future will need? Winderful, at last you are looking ahead, being positive and welcoming the future, but on your terms. Which is fine too.This how a mature democracy reaches decisions on difficult choices that are understood by everyone who cares. So future difficult choices are not hidden away in dense jargon only a few professional experts understand. They are up-front and clearly seen: the opportunities, the threats and the unknowns.
How long will it take the Board to understand that if they want their Thames Valley residents to host land use change with welcoming arms, in an area where luckily growth seeds itself, will it take for this moment of understanding? Who I wonder will take the lead?
Ian Campbell
11 October 2026
