Even more housing likely for Thatcham and Newbury

Mon, 19 August 2024Mon, 19 August 2024 Niki Hinman 404 Views

Thatcham and Newbury look set to get even more housing.

Four sites with a total extra 425 homes earmarked by West Berkshire Council for housing across the district.

And a site north of Newbury could be in for up to 800 more homes too after West Berkshire Council has been told to provide more homes by the Government Planning Inspector.

The sites in North Newbury are not specified, but the council has been told to provide a likely scenario for new homes by the Planning Inspector, potentially in 15 years time.

The move, described by the council leader Jeff Brooks as “the best of a bad deal” is designed to hopefully protect the district from getting an even greater housing demand from the Government, which has doubled the number of homes West Berkshire might have to provide.

In effect, the council is trying to demonstrate it is showing willing, in the hope it will be left alone to ultimately decide, rather than being told what to do.

It is still unclear what impact this will have on so called grey belt areas, still to be defined, and the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (now National Landscape).

The Liberal Democrat administration says it does not support the plan but the Government has told the authority to give the planning inspector what he has asked for.

The council has announced that approximately 225 homes on land near Henwick Park, on Bowling Green Road in Thatcham, and another 45 homes near the Regency Park Hotel on Bowling Green Road in Thatcham will be put forward.

On top of that there are approximately 138 homes on land at Pincents Lane in Tilehurst and around 25 homes north of Pangbourne Hill in Pangbourne.

West Berkshire Council has also identified an area north of Newbury which could be explored for future growth as it says it has the potential to deliver between 650 and 800 homes, later in the plan period (from 2034 onwards).

The Planning Inspector has also found that the site proposed at north east Thatcham has capacity beyond the 1,500 homes proposed and has found that to make effective use of the site this should be expanded up to 2,500 homes.

The council says not all of these additional 1,000 homes would be built within this plan period, with the majority likely to be delivered after 2041.

The final capacity of the site will be determined through the creation of a masterplan which will be developed collaboratively by the council and developer and with comprehensive engagement with the local community.

Following a number of public hearings, the Planning Inspector found there is a shortfall of around 850 homes against a requirement for a minimum of 9,270 new homes to be built between 2023 and 2041.

Three weeks ago, the inspector set out the next steps for the council to take before he can consider whether the plan is sound.

These included asking the council to suggest new sites for development to meet the shortfall.

The Local Plan is a set of overarching planning documents which sets out, among other things, where and when houses will be built in the coming years.

The Local Plan Review covers the period to 2041 and is currently being examined by a Planning Inspector.

Following the submission of the information about the new sites, the Planning Inspector will consider these and issue a report with his preliminary findings.

The council will consider his report and full council will need to agree any modifications ahead of further public consultation.

Speaking about these latest developments the West Berkshire Council portfolio holder for planning and housing Denise Gaines, said: “The council has been directed by Central Government to progress the Local Plan through the eamination by the inspector.

“At his request, we suggested new sites with great reluctance but we have been left with no choice because the Government would very probably take over the plan process if we failed to engage at this time.

“We believe that these decisions should be taken by your local council rather than at Westminster, but it is a very bitter pill to swallow.

“Engaging with the Planning Inspector and suggesting these sites enables us to continue to speak on behalf of local residents and doing what needs to be done in their interests.

“We inherited what we consider to be a poor plan by the outgoing administration and wanted tostart the plan again, but the Government intervened and directed us not to dispense with that plan.

“Now we have the new Government stating that we should be building double the number of new homes per year.

“If we don’t progress this plan that the inspector is deliberating upon, the council would be forced to find sites for an even greater number of houses.

“It really is a poor situation for our district and our residents.

“We will consider our next steps once we have the Planning Inspector’s report in the preliminary findings.”

Next steps on this are expected in October.

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