Lib Dems Urge Residents to Respond to Consultation on New Housing - If It Ever Gets Underway

3.13.45pm BST (GMT +0100) Wed 27th May 2009

West Berkshire Council Liberal Democrats are urging all residents to respond to the Council's consultation on the distribution of 10,500 new homes allocated to the District in the South East Plan. The consultation relates to the document Options for the Future - West Berkshire Core Strategy which proposes locating 75% of the new homes in and around the major settlements of Newbury, Thatcham and the western part of Reading, and 20% in seven "Rural Service Centres", i.e. Burghfield Common, Hungerford, Lambourn, Mortimer, Pangbourne and Theale. It also presents options on strategic sites where major development will be concentrated.

"The final decisions on this new development will impact upon most communities in West Berkshire, in one way or another", said Dr Royce Longton, Lib Dem spokesman on planning, "So I would urge local residents to express their views through this public consultation. Indeed the consultation is so important that I was most disturbed to find that it did not get underway on 22 May as scheduled. I asked for the paper work at the Council's Newbury office on Friday 22 May and was told "Oh, it has not been printed yet." This is simply not good enough".