RBWM seeks early influence in Thames Valley planning shake-up
The Royal Borough wants early influence in a Thames Valley-wide plan affecting housing and other building in Windsor and Maidenhead – so it can ‘fight for residents in our area’.
To boost growth, the Government wants to bring forward more housing and infrastructure (such as transport links and hospitals) spanning multiple local authorities.
A key part of this is moving some planning decisions from individual councils to wider regional bodies.
This is intended to address the fact that some planning issues do not fit neatly inside individual council boundaries.
As such, work is underway to create a Thames Valley planning area, spanning multiple local authority areas, including the Royal Borough and Slough.
The next step is to build a blueprint for how the region should grow over the coming years, called a spatial development strategy (SDS).
However, the Government is yet to confirm the final geography for the Thames Valley area – it is set to do so later this year.
Currently, it is proposed that the Thames Valley area would include the Royal Borough, Slough, Bracknell Forest, Reading, Oxfordshire, West Berkshire and Swindon.
To build the Thames Valley SDS, a strategic planning board must be set up. Creating the SDS will be a legal obligation for this board.
The plan is for Bracknell Forest Council to act as the accountable body for funds received and held on behalf of the partnership.
Bracknell will also host any staff appointed for the Thames Valley SDS programme.
For 2027-28, the Royal Borough is expected to contribute £50,000 towards putting together the SDS partnership.
This is only an indicative amount; the cabinet is not formally committing to the funding at this point.
The overall scheme may cost around £4.38million, Cllr Adam Bermange, RBWM’s lead member for governance and planning, said at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday (June 30).
