A massive plan for 2,800 homes between Reading and Wokingham has been submitted.
For years, there has been discussion of a major development called for Loddon Valley Garden Village, consisting of nearly 4,000 homes south of the M4.
The site covers multiple fields owned by the University of Reading, which would be turned into a new settlement complete with two primary schools, a secondary school, a ‘district centre’ and community facilities.
The huge project will be split into a series of planning applications, but this first is for 2,800 homes, the schools and community facilities.
Additionally, plans have been submitted for retail and employment spaces, a large new country park, leisure facilities, green spaces and 20 gypsy and traveller pitches.
The plan has been submitted to Wokingham Borough Council, as the land falls within its jurisdiction.
The new community would be situated in Arborfield and Newland Parish.
The land has been earmarked for development within the council’s emerging local plan update, which will lay out where homes should be built in the borough up to 2040.
The project has already been the topic of opposition, with the Save Our Loddon Valley Environment (SOLVE) Hall Farm campaign group being set up to fight against it.
Concerns have been raised about the impact it will have on the existing road network, particularly for entering and leaving Reading.
In an effort to address that, plans have been submitted for the construction of new roads, bridges over the M4 and River Loddon, and walking and cycling routes.
The plans are currently under public consultation, with the council encouraging people to submit their comments.
Councillor Martin Alder (Liberal Democrats, Twyford, Ruscombe & Hurst), executive member for planning and enforcement, said: “We’ve now received the first of a number of planning applications for the proposed Loddon Valley Garden Village.
“This marks the start of the public consultation on the first of these applications, and we encourage anyone with an interest in the proposal to take a look at the plans and share their views.
“All feedback will be considered as part of the decision-making process.”
You can view the application by typing reference 252498 into the council’s planning portal.
The consultation is currently live and will run until Friday, January 16, 2026.
Two further planning applications, due to be submitted by Gleeson Land and Hatch Farm, are expected in November and early next year.
Once these are submitted, the Loddon Valley Garden Village will total 3,930 homes.
The concept for the garden village is similar to a plan for thousands of homes at Grazeley in Shinfield Parish, which was terminated due to the proximity of the land to atomic weapons facilities.
