FIVE HUNDRED houses could be built close to one of the Borough’s busiest roads.
A proposal document published by Berkely Homes has been leaked to The Wokingham Paper, and outlines a plan for 500 homes to be built on Blagrove Lane, Wokingham.
The document is titled, ‘A masterplan shaped through partnership’, and states: “By working closely with the Borough Council, Wokingham Town Council and local people we [Berkeley Homes] can shape a shared vision to create a beautiful new part of Wokingham, offering new infrastructure, local facilities, open spaces alongside the mix of high quality homes local people need.
“Blagrove Meadows offers a fantastic opportunity to deliver real benefits for the local community without being reliant on complex strategic infrastructure, meaning that the homes and new facilities could be delivered quickly.”
“Development at Blagrove Meadows would be of a scale that is appropriate to the local area and could be commenced within two years of Wokingham’s new Local Plan being adopted.”
A spokesperson for Berkeley Homes said: “We have developed early stage proposals for this site, including a mix of affordable and private homes, new public open spaces, a local primary school and community hall.
“However we are still at the very start of the engagement process, the outline plans are not fixed and there would be a full public consultation before any future planning applications are prepared.”
A spokesperson for Wokingham Borough Council said: “WBC has had no discussion with Berkeley Homes about any planning application on this site.
“The land is not allocated for housing and is outside the settlement boundary, therefore the council would not expect a planning application to be submitted at this time.”
Former chair of the Planning and Transport Committee, Andrew Waters alleges that the Liberal Democrat Councillors “are pledging support for plans to submit a planning application to build 500 houses on a greenfield site on Blagrove Lane in Evendons ward.”
Mr Waters claims that the Liberal Democrat Councillors “have met and enjoy ‘a very cosy relationship’, with developer Berkeley Development”.
“No information was sent to residents and all of their group were instructed to keep this little plan confidential.”
Mr Waters alleges that Liberal Borough Councillor Sarah Kerr is putting pressure on the Town Council group to provide her with details of this development. He said: “ Presumably Sarah Kerr wants to start a campaign to stop it [the development] and in some way twist the story so it all appears to be the fault of the ruling Tories at the Borough Council.”
Furthermore, Mr Waters alleges that: “This all apparently came to a head on Friday last, when under pressure from the warring factions within her own party, the hapless Town Council leader, Imogen Shepherd DuBey held a crisis meeting to agree on what to leak and how to leak it.”
Wokingham Town Council leader, Cllr Imogen Sheperd-DuBey said: “We did have a meeting with Berkeley Homes, however, this was open to all parties in the Council.
“The greenfield site on Blagrove Lane is not in the Wokingham development plan, and if it were to be built, would require extensive infrastructure, as there is simply nothing there at the moment.
“As I sit on the Town Council Planning and Strategy Committee, I cannot comment on whether the Liberal Democrats would support this development.”
