Your Voice – Have Your Say
COOKHAM’S FUTURE IS BEING PLANNED NOW
Have your say in RBWM’s new Local Plan consultation before 13 September 2026
RBWM is preparing a new Local Plan that will guide where homes, jobs, infrastructure and development go across the Borough up to 2045.
Have your say. Help protect what makes Cookham special.
Why respond now?
This is the beginning of the process. RBWM is currently asking residents what the new Local Plan should contain, what its priorities should be and where future growth should be focused.
Specific development sites and policies have not yet been proposed. That means this is the opportunity to establish the principles and priorities that should guide the choices made later.
Don’t wait until individual sites are proposed. By then, the strategic direction may already have been established.
Your views now will form part of the evidence base for the next stages of plan-making.
What should residents in Cookham consider?
1. Protect Cookham’s identity
Keep separate from Maidenhead and retain the distinctiveness of Cookham Village, Cookham Rise and Cookham Dean. Don’t let our parish become one continuous built-up area.
2. Protect the Green Belt and open countryside
Cookham’s Green Belt provides separation from Maidenhead, landscape setting, countryside access, green infrastructure, wildlife and biodiversity, flood resilience, and a distinctive character.
3. Put growth in the right places
Growth where it can be properly planned and sustainably supported, such as a new settlement.
4. Cookham has already taken development
Cookham has already accommodated significant growth through the 2022 Local Plan allocations.
5. Growth must come with infrastructure
If development is proposed, infrastructure must come first – not years later.
MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD
You don’t need to be a planning expert.
Tell RBWM what matters to you, using your own experience of living, working, visiting or running a business in Cookham.
Things you may wish to say:
Housing and Growth
• Growth in the most sustainable locations.
• Prioritise larger and new settlements.
• Do not expand smaller villages.
• Plan new communities with public transport, infrastructure and services from the outset.
• Avoid Green Belt releases.
Character
• Protect the identities of Cookham Village, Rise and Dean.
• Maintain the separation from Maidenhead.
• Protect Cookham’s rural setting, views and open spaces.
• Prevent urban sprawl.
• Ensure our local design guidance influences new development.
Environment
• Protect all landscapes and green spaces.
• Protect biodiversity and wildlife corridors.
• Give proper attention to flood risk and climate resilience.
• Protect Cookham’s landscape and heritage, including its Stanley Spencer legacy.
Infrastructure
• Improve bus frequency and reliability.
• Improve rail connectivity and direct services.
• Address congestion, road safety, walking and cycling.
• Deliver infrastructure alongside, not after, development.
• Ensure local design guidance influences growth.
• Assess infrastructure capacity before new development is allocated.
When the questionnaire asks you to rank priorities, rank the options according to your own priorities,
– BUT MAKE SURE THAT RBWM can see how important Green Belt, local character and infrastructure are to Cookham.
Neighbourhood Plan:
Cookham Neighbourhood Plan was made in September 2025 and sets out community aspirations and policies.
When responding to the consultation, ask RBWM to ensure that the new strategic plan remains compatible with the vision, principles and policies of Cookham’s Neighbourhood Plan.
Call for Sites – Open:
RBWM is also inviting suggestions for potential development sites.
If you know of genuinely sustainable opportunities on previously developed land within the built-up area and sites that do not require Green Belt release, in Cookham or elsewhere in the Borough, the Parish Council welcomes you bringing them forward.
How to respond to the new Local Plan
Answer the questions that matter to you and submit by 13 September 2026.
Cookham Parish Council’s involvement
Cookham Parish Council will be making its own representation to RBWM. However, it encourages everyone with an interest in Cookham to make their own response.
What matters is that RBWM hears clearly what you value about Cookham and what you believe should shape its future.
View the CPC 2023 – 2027 Strategic Plan for Cookham
Highways Issues
Many of our parishioners contact us regarding issues on the highways and pavements. Although we like to know where the problems are, and will always try and support our parishioners in trying to get them fixed, sadly only RBWM have the remit and responsibility to deal with highway issues.
So if you have any concern about any of the following
– Please report these directly to RBWM.
- The state of the pavements
- Potholes in the road
- Fly tipping
- Streetlighting
- Public rights of way
- Drainage issues on the highways
If you are not able to do this yourself, then please get in touch and we will do this for you.
How to Report an Issue Directly to RBWM
Report an Issue to Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead Council website
