The Cookham Society to Seek Advice About the Next Steps

The Society, the Parish Council and members of the public were bitterly disappointed by the decision of RBWM’s Development Panel to grant planning permission for 200 dwellings on the site known as AL37.

The Panel meeting had originally been planned for the 21st of November 2024 but was delayed at the last minute because of a computer error by the Royal Borough. The hearing was rescheduled for the 19th December.

The Society had originally secured speaking slots to voice objections to the design on behalf of its 600 members but when the Panel meeting was moved, the slots did not roll over to the meeting on the19th. The Society was then deeply dismayed to find that it had been shut out of speaking against the plans, as all three speaking slots had been allocated to a single member of the public.

Of course, this development site appears in the Borough Local Plan and so it will eventually be developed. Despite many objections by the Society and others to this sub-standard design, planning permission has been granted. In its present form, it will be just another charmless, characterless, cramped new development, littered with badly parked cars, unusable green space, poor access and with an undesirable effect on local traffic levels.

The only recourse for opponents of approved planning applications is a statutory review in the Courts. There is a six-week time limit on that. At an Extraordinary meeting of its committee on Monday 6th January, the Society considered an expert’s report on the weaknesses of both the plans and the process. Based on that report, it unanimously decided to obtain formal advice from a King’s Counsel about next steps.

Cookham Society Chairman, Bill Perry, said:

“The Cookham Society exists to protect the special place which is Cookham and to stand up for its people. They have been short-changed by the planning process for this site. Whatever we can do about this, we shall do.”