Book excerpt: First published in 1986, Housebuilding, Planning and Community Action was written as an examination of the conflicts and tensions resulting from private sector housing growth in Central Berkshire, part of Britain’s ‘Silicon Valley’ along the M4 motorway. The book provides a detailed consideration of the various ‘actors’ and their interactions and explores the fight from Community groups and parish councils to halt development, in opposition to the government’s reluctance to discourage economic growth. It focuses on four groups closely involved in the production, allocation, and consumption of new housing: speculative housebuilders, local planning authorities, parish councils, and community/residents’ groups. The motivations and actions of each group are examined, and the tensions between them are highlighted, set within the context of central government attitudes towards planning and private housebuilding. Housebuilding, Planning and Community Action has lasting relevance for those interested in human geography, and the history of housebuilding and planning.