A DISTANT relative of the man who owned Maidenhead golf course over 120 years ago has said he would be “disgusted” with the council planning to develop on it.
Maidenhead Great Park campaigners organised a protest walk on the public footpath that cuts across the 132-acre greenfield golf course site in Shoppenhangers Road on Earth Day to oppose the South West Maidenhead development.
The adopted borough local plan earmarks the site, which includes the golf course and land south of Harvest Hill Road, for over 2,600 homes, open space, schools, community centres, and more.
Campaigners have slammed the proposed development as “environmentally damaging” and want it to be turned into a great park. The borough local plan has been deemed “sound” by the independent planning inspector after a rigorous examination process and public consultations.
READ MORE: Maidenhead campaigners attend protest walk to oppose golf course housing scheme
The council has consulted with residents on the development’s connectivity, community needs, and sustainability and environment, to inform the site-specific supplementary planning document to provide further guidance and information on future planning applications.
At the protest on Friday, April 22, the distant cousin of Lord Desborough was in attendance to oppose the development.
The former mayor of Maidenhead (1895-1896) William Henry Grenfell, who became Lord Desborough, owned more than 10,000 acres of land around the town, including the golf course, which was sold off to the council on auction.
Phil Adkins, who changed his name to Lord Grenfell, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “It’s a beautiful place. My distant cousin sold this land to the council with the expressed purpose that it’s used for leisure purposes, not to be built on.
“The same with York Road football ground, he sold that for a pittance to the council. We will find the covenant for it, and we will make sure that this land stays for pleasurable leisure.
“Lord Desborough was great friends with mayor Stutchbury, to who he sold the land. He would be absolutely disgusted with what the council is doing now.”
The Royal Borough Council said there are no restrictive covenants on the golf course that would prevent the housing development.
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Councillor Phil Haseler, cabinet member for planning said: “Thank you to everyone who has attended our online events designed to involve the community in informing the next stage of planning for South West Maidenhead. This allocated development area will bring forward much-needed new homes, community facilities, infrastructure, employment space and improved public access to green space.
“Our online events for the community to help inform the Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) for the area have focussed around the key considerations of Sustainability and the Environment, Connectivity, and Community Needs. We welcome constructive feedback to ensure we fully capture and understand the key considerations in preparing a draft SPD for consultation this summer, and to ensure that ultimately we achieve the vision already set in the adopted Borough Local Plan to create a rounded high-quality place where people will want to live and enjoy living.
“Most public questions asked at these sessions were answered live during the events themselves and we also have an ever-expanding written FAQ on our website providing facts around matters such as sustainability, air quality, traffic, biodiversity and trees, among much else. If you were not able to attend one or more of the events, please do visit the website where you can download all the presentations given and will shortly be able to watch back all three of the online events. Please visit www.rbwm.gov.uk/SWMaidenhead-SPD You can still submit comments as part of this stage of the SPD process until 27 April 2022. Hard copies of information and public access computers are also available in Maidenhead Library.”
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