In the previous blog, ‘Phoney freedoms, lost opportunities’ I used Wokingham as one example of historic failure. The scale of myopic planning failure in Wokingham has become even clearer. So it worth returning to it as a measure of the consequences of spatial failure. Once again by the way I am indebted to the Wokingham.Today ( (Ruth Lucas; 26 April 2025) for exposing the realities of of the council’s housing policy failures. Wokingham is also an example of why the housing supply market in England is broken. Its recent history goes far to explain why homes are massively overpriced and economic growth is sluggish. But some local leaders still do not see the the connections.
To comprehend the scale spatial failure policy failure in this lesson on policy failure it is also worth remembering who has had control of Wokingham since it took its present form in 1973, over fifty years ago. The Conservatives have controlled Wokingham council all of this period except for short periods: 1995-1997; 2000-2002 and since 2022. The local Conservatives ought to take ownership of these errors and the accommodation poverty they impose on their badly housed residents. But do they?
Government inspectors have recently told Wokingham Borough Council they’ are concerned about the delivery of nearly 4000 new homes known as Loddon Valley Garden Village. The Inspectors, the Wokingham.Today report goes on to say have ‘particular concerns about the delivery of housing’ detailed in the Local Plan. They have ‘ questioned when infrastructure projects described as ‘critical’ or ‘essential ‘ will be delivered when they all will cost more than £10 million to complete……(and) .have asked if these would be completed before residents occupy the new homes’.
The report also identifies a council viability study which omits reference to highway works that will cost £140 million and community facilities needing another £5 million. Leader of the Conservatives on the council, Cllr Pauline Jorgensen has called the Local Plan seriously flawed. She is right. And she goes on to say the Inspectors have raised ‘two really fundamental points- whether the house building rate is achievable and whether the infrastructure is properly funded and deliverable.’. Once again she is right.
In January the current Liberal Democrat leader of the council made an interesting comment. Either he does not understand local spatial policy failure and its consequences or he does not think the electorate will understand because what he says is ‘I understand why existing residents may be reluctant to see new development in their vicinity, but we should not forget that many people in our area, including existing residents’ children and grandchildren, need somewhere they can call home.’. Working within a highly constrained system, we have sought to produce the best outcome for the borough’. Cllr Stephen Conway is right too but this is not the point. Has he learnt the lessons fifty years of Wokingham housing policy failure and the financial burdens spatial policy failure imposes? Possibly not.
In 1990 I published proposals for a new town on land in Wokingham and adjoining borough, West Berkshire Council.. It was clear then, three years before Wokingham became a Conservative housing failure zone that house prices would explode in popular areas. As that report forecast has happened in the next blog I will give some quotations to make the point more plain..
The lesson here seems to be that two local leaders, faced with housing policy failure over nearly two generations have not learnt their lessons. Why does Sir Keir Starmer think he will achieve in four years what history has not achieved in fifty years?
The Wokingham solution?
1. all three political parties commit to working together on housing policy;
2. they agree not to allow it to be a political policy issue until there is a long term spatial policy in place
3. they look at the Wokingham travel to work catchment zone and identify where the majority of future new homes will be built. This will mean working with their neighbouring councils.
4. They agree the new community will be virtually free of private cars. Instead public transport will be provided.
5. they agree they will, with government support pursue a long term land ownership master plan so they become the sole sellers of building land. . This means they will pursue a policy of near 100% land value capture after the end of the current Local Plan.
6. all land they buy, if not built on, will be retained and managed in perpetuity by the council for the residents. In addition they will buy at least as much other land to become public open space. managed and maintained by the council.
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Is this a dream or vision all in Wokingham could sign up to? It means house price inflation will cease. Is this what Wokingham residents want?
Ian Campbell
26 April 2025
