News

An artist's impression of Buckhurst Farm
advertisement

Buckhurst Farm housing plan agreed despite parking concerns

By Laura Herbert
April 17, 2012

The first phase of a major development in south Wokingham has been given the go-ahead despite some concerns about a main road through the site.

The 650 homes will be the first phase in a 2,500 home development, which forms part of the council’s Core Strategy to build 13,000 homes by 2026.

Benefits highlighted for 650 homes plans at Buckhurst Farm

Wokingham Borough Council’s planning committee approved an application from David Wilson Homes to build 650 homes on Buckhurst Farm in London Road last Wednesday.

The application is the only proposal to build large-scale housing on a site earmarked for building in the Core Strategy that has won approval.

The whole development will include dementia care housing, a new primary school, multi-use games area with playing fields, a neighbourhood centre and country park featuring an allotment and community orchard.

Proposed plans show housing to the west of the site with suitable alternative natural green space (SANG) to the east, to create a gap between Wokingham and Bracknell.

The development will also include a southern distributor road (SDR) running from north to south, connecting London Road to Finchampstead Road, but issues about the location of the road were raised at the planning meeting.

Councillor Chris Singleton asked for the road to be looked at again.

Traffic fears spark rebellion against plans for 2,500 homes

He said: “I cannot support this aspect of the proposal without categorical reassurance of its assessment.

“I don’t want to vote against this proposal as a whole, I wonder if there is any way we can look at the plan of the relief road for consideration?”

Cllr Tim Holton added: “I really don’t understand why the road has to go through the development. I don’t see how moving the road a few hundred metres is going to bridge the gap between Wokingham and Bracknell.”

Jennifer Jackson, team leader of the strategic implementation team, said: “We have used relief and distributor road but whatever we choose to call it that road is about creating a place, a movement corridor serving a number of functions and potentially a relief road to the town centre.

“The design of the road would not change if we called it a distribution road, relief road or anything else.”

Public speaker and campaigner Gareth Rees said: “The consultation has 95 pages worth of objections and concerns and please take that into consideration before you approve this today. There are hundreds of people in this document who have raised concerns and criticisms about this.

“If you approve this you are not listening to the people of Wokingham.”

Paul Crispin, managing director of David Wilson Homes, said: “We are totally committed to this scheme. It is the logical first step.

“It is a sustainable development and we believe in building communities and not just homes.”

The development will create new jobs in construction and David Wilson Homes has pledged to offer five-year apprenticeship and graduate trainee roles.

| View Comments (23)

« Previous Story | Next Story »

We are no longer accepting comments on this article.

Most recent user comments 15 of 23

1 | 2 | Next Page Show 15 | 25 | 50 per page

Kaz may be representing the Green Party but, when you read his blog he appears to be a bit of a red.

Tonk, Wokingham
23/04/2012 at 10:41

Finally a candidate "Kaz" in Wokingham who wants less land development, no funding and is standing for the green party this May in Westcott.

http://kaz4green.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/wescott-wokingham-local-elections-2012.html

Woky Local, Wokingham
22/04/2012 at 18:44

DT & Mavdo - I am not disagreeing with you rather I am merely pointing out that Wokeyblokey was mistaken when he suggested that there was no way for him to submit comments when there clearly is. Whether those comments are then taken notice of is a separate (but just as important) issue. If Wokeyblokey wants to make a serious point and be heard, he needs to get his facts right first. I am not suggesting that this is necessarily the case, but it may just be that many of the comments submitted to WBC in response to planning matters are similarly flawed and that is why they are not acted upon. I am sorry if this sounds harsh because I do not want to be critical of anyone who clearly cares about the future of our town but if we wish to make our voices heard we really need to get our facts right first and study the information that is out there before making ill informed comments on getwokingham.

LarryS
19/04/2012 at 13:51

"We were all free to comment on it and many did. The comments submitted by individuals and other agencies such as parish councils are also still available on line. If that is not consultation I'm not sure what is."

Ermm... Speaking and being heard are very different things. Yes, there is a website on which people can write stuff. No, that is not consultation.

"Consultation: a conference for discussion or the seeking of advice".

Damiano_Tommassi, Wokingham
18/04/2012 at 17:22

@LarryS - I am not being critical because I don't believe a "consultation" has happened. WBC are pretty good at holding such things now. I'm being critical because absolutely nothing has changed on the back of it, aside maybe from the moving of a bench, or the addition of a tree, because the council believes that negative comments are from people with wrong opinions. So what was the point in any consultation at all other than to gain an incorrect view that there is overwhelming support?

I'm also being critical because up until recently, consultations have been relatively secretive, and WBC themselves have recently admitted that there have been failings in the consultation process that they have made an effort to address.

The photos of the consultation on the core strategy show that some members of the public were given the ability to shape what types of things were built in the four main areas of development - where the houses went, where the roads went, where the SANGs went etc. But completely missing was the ability to change the number of houses built in the areas, choose the areas of development, or change the strategy of infrastructure planning across the rest of the borough. These areas were chosen, and they will be built on. The end.

A consultation is supposed to engage local people to change a development for the better, and to ensure that something is never forced on a community when the overwhelming opinion is against it (note that I don't think that is the case here, I actually think most people, other than residents of roads backing on to the area, are broadly in favour of some development at Buckhurst farm, even if just through a sense that its the best option of a poor choice).

In WBC's eyes, a "consultation" is just a method to present what is going to happen to people. Any comments on it are either ignored, or selectively used to show support the plan. That is not a consultation by anything other than name. It is a presentation.

As a simple example, the road through here is a distributor road away from the T/C. That's really needed, and it's a really good opportunity to get this built. But it exits by Tesco in between two low bridges meaning it can't be used for HGVs, and it starts on London Road at a T junction, out of which most people will want to turn right onto a road that is heavily congested at rush hour. The core strategy itself gives an option to combine this exit with "keephatch road", when they are actually talking about "plough lane".

It's a mess.

mavdo, Wokingham
18/04/2012 at 12:35

Consultation should result in appropriate changes being made to the plan. There is no evidence that any changes have been made to plan as a result of comments made to the published plan or at the public presentations.

Perhaps your paper would like to prove me wrong by publishing a list of such changes.

PoneRana, Wokingham
18/04/2012 at 12:04

Wokeyblokey - the Buckhurst Farm proposals were included in a formal planning application that was (still is) on the WBC website. We were all free to comment on it and many did. The comments submitted by individuals and other agencies such as parish councils are also still available on line. If that is not consultation I'm not sure what is. Planning authorities are obliged by law to publish details of planning applications and consult on them. There may be many things we can criticise WBC for but this is not one of them.

LarryS
18/04/2012 at 11:12

http://www.wokingham.gov.uk/online/report/planningcomment/ is not a consultation page. We should be able to see the proposal and comment on specifics of the proposal as there may actually be parts of the proposal that are agreed with.

wokeyblokey
18/04/2012 at 08:19

“If you approve this you are not listening to the people of Wokingham.”

Enough said ...

Peter Turner
17/04/2012 at 21:50

Something needs to be done about WBC. It is an out of control monster.

Think, and then vote wisely.

Perhaps the Wokingham Times needs to ask some tough questions of WBC, like do you know what consultation means?

Peter Turner
17/04/2012 at 21:46

if this proposed road joins finchampstead road at the roundabout by tesco as i believe is the plan,i wonder how many large heavy goods vehicles will find themselves trapped between the two low railway bridges on finchampstead road.these planners seem to have very little common sense.

right said fred
17/04/2012 at 17:55

LarryS, there's no mention of consultation there that I can see... It's not a "consultation platform" if it isn't used for consultation!

Damiano_Tommassi, Wokingham
17/04/2012 at 16:17

WokeyBlokey - 'On another point Why is there no online consultation platform for WBC like there is with Bracknell? In this age where more people are likely to respond online should there not be a method for responding online.'

It's the first option on their home page under 'Online Services'!

LarryS
17/04/2012 at 15:59

If this relief road is to take traffic away from the town centre then it needs to be quick. Therefore it needs to be straight rather than the windy road in the current proposals. The obvious thing to do would be to run the road parallel to the train line where possible. Therefore, you have just one noise corridor. This should be a no brainer for the house builder as well because nobody really wants to live next to a main road or a train line so by having the road run next to the train line and having cul-de-sacs coming off the road to the south will make the houses that they build more saleable.

Mark Savill, Wokingham
17/04/2012 at 15:42

The problem the citizens of Wokingham face here is that WBC do not appear to listen to comments from residents which unfortunately means that apathy sets in. Take for example Elmes field and the Cricket pitch. What's the point in getting passionate about something when you know you are fighting a loosing battle. I agree with you mavdo, there is something more than slightly fishy about WBC.

On another point Why is there no online consultation platform for WBC like there is with Bracknell? In this age where more people are likely to respond online should there not be a method for responding online.