Residents will get another opportunity next month to influence a plan to build on a floodplain.
A key deadline has passed for Woodley, Earley and Shinfield residents to register their interest in the inquiry about new houses on the Hall Farm site.
Wokingham Borough Council earmarked the land, owned by Reading University to build almost 4,000 homes.
A so-called ‘examination in public’ started in November last year, with stage one of that examination now complete.
Planning Inspectors Thomas Hatfield and Mark Philpott will reconvene hearing Sessions at 10am on March 17, 2026 and hearings will run on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from March to June.
The hearings will take place at Wokingham Borough Council’s Civic Offices, Shute End, Wokingham.
The inspectors have cleared the way for the inquiry to move from stage 1 to stage 2 but residents had many questions about access to the site and local transport.
They have also given the council work to do on transport, and asked them lots of questions about local transportation.
For those who made representations during the Stage 1 consultation, if they want to participate in the Stage 2 hearings, they had to notify the Programme Officer, Ian Kemp, by February 17.
If residents have new objections relevant to Stage 2, they can submit further written statements by 5 pm on 3rd March 3. 2026.
The local ward councillor, Pauline Jorgensen (Loddon, Con) is against the development, which is expected to take place on land which regularly floods.
She wants you to get involved if you’ve got something to say: “It’s very important that local residents with knowledge of the area give the inspectors any help they can.
“I am opposed to the scale of the development planned for the Hall Farm site, especially because of the impact on local traffic which will result from the 3,900 extra houses planned.
“When the Lib Dems proposed their local plan, having sat on their hands for more than two years, they left us with a week to read and digest many hundreds of pages, with alternative proposals.
“The Lib Dems opposed development at Hall Farm and then, when they gained power, they did a u-turn and refused to consider alternatives.”
