RBWM SURVEY ON GREEN SPACES AND THE WINDSOR LINK RAILWAY.
On 12th July 2015, the Council introduced a consultation on the proposals for a Windsor Link Railway (WLR), which will connect the GWR line and SWR line with new underground station built close to the current location of Windsor Central Station. The plan also includes a 3200 space car park to be built under Alexandra Gardens and the removal of the current coach park to allow for town houses and the extension of Alexandra Gardens. The railway line itself will cross the river using the current Brunel bridge before descending through the viaduct, going underground at the current Alma Road bridge, to the new station and continuing underground beyond the existing Riverside station. WLR will acquire the Network Rail land and the council owned land stretching from the Leisure Centre car park to the Home Park, which they can use for development.
Windsor Town Council has been at the centre of controversial railway plans since Isambard Kingdom Brunel packed the chamber with Navvies dressed in suits in the 1830’s to try to push through plans for the Great Western Railway (GWR) to come directly through Windsor. Under pressure from Eton College, who didn’t want their students visiting the ‘Girls of St Giles’, the Mayor allowed only those who could prove that they were local residents to vote on the issue. Brunel was defeated, but later was allowed to build a branch line from Slough, completed on 8th October 1849, at the same time South Western Railways (SWR) were building a line from London Waterloo which opened 1st December 1849. In 1871 plans to build a line to Ascot via Dedworth were abandoned. The modern day Brunel in the 2015 scenario is Cllr George Bathurst, who clearly has a vested interest in seeing this project being successfully backed by the Council.
RBWM are inviting residents to have their say as to whether WLR should be part of the Borough Local Plan. The deadline for responses is end of August It is vital to ensure residents continue to be represented that you have your say via the link below or via the council website,
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/blpsummer2015
A word of caution. The survey does NOT list the pros and cons of the WLR so you may wish to carefully consider your response without this vital information. You could indicate that at this stage you “don’t know” and in the comments box request that further information be forthcoming. We understand that it is the RBWM’s intention to conduct a full postal survey later this year to find out if Windsorians are in favour of this scheme, and that this survey will include details of the scheme including benefits and drawbacks.
Within the same Survey are questions on Green Spaces. Shortly we plan to provide some guidance on this section and you may wish to delay completing this Survey until we provide this information.
THE BACKGROUND TO THIS SURVEY
The RBWM is developing the Local Borough Plan (LBP). You may recall the consultation last year. During this Summer it is undertaking further consultation on various aspects
- Retail and Town Centre Study to be consulted from July 2015
- Call for development sites – in progress and ongoing
- Green Belt – edge of settlement – July 2015
- Employment Development – Summer 2015
- Impact of new developments on Transport – August 2015
- Flood Risk – August 2015
- Travellers Sites – unspecified date
- Strategic Housing Market Assessment – Summer 2015
Feedback from the above will influence the development of the next stage of the Local Plan which will out for consultation by November 2015
As more information becomes available we will keep you posted via this website.