Wokingham and development

Wokingham has grown rapidly during the last 60 years. In the 1980s, it was the fastest growing town in Europe – an accolade we could have done without! Having developed too fast, one might have hoped for a period of consolidation, but that is not what happened. The opening words of the Core Strategy vision are: "By 2026, this Core Strategy will deliver the development necessary to sustain the area's economic growth ...".

Wokingham is already one of the more prosperous places in England to live. We aren't going to get any richer. There will just be more people, crowded into the area so that their collective wealth will add up to produce 'growth'. The developers love it of course; they have had and continue to have a field day at Wokingham's expense.  

Development is like an addictive drug. When you get hooked you can't stop. You keep hoping that the next fix will make things better but it never does. There might be a temporary relief, but then things get worse again. The only way to solve the problem of over-development is to kick the habit. It may be slow and painful, but at least you do less damage along the way.

Development has raced ahead all around Wokingham. Mostly it ate up farmland but on the southern edge, south of the railway, it is causing much more damage to the amenity by building on an attractive stretch of countryside crossed by footpaths that were much used by local residents. You can see how attractive this area by looking at the walks  that I recorded before they were cut through by new roads and surrounded by houses. Why did the Council select this area as the site for thousands of houses? One reason was to put a road there, and letting developers build lots of houses is a way to pay for it.

It's a simple idea. Wokingham is crowded, so build a bypass to take the traffic round it. But that is too simple. That was the idea behind Wokingham's first bypass, the A329M in the 1970s.

But traffic grows to fill the new capacity, especially if the road is bought at the cost of building more houses with more cars – which generate even more traffic. A lot of that traffic will come into the town, offsetting any benefit from some existing traffic going through the housing estates round the edge of the town.

You can't build your way out of' the problems caused by previous over development.

Further development of Wokingham may increase its 'GDP', or the footfall in its shops and cafes and the profits of its estate agents. And it might move the Council up a few league tables. But it will also kill much of what makes Wokingham an attractive place to live.