An application for 18 homes on Lower Wokingham Road is set to be approved by Wokingham Borough Council’s planning committee this week.
Councillors have been asked to approve the plans for Hillside, previously known as Jovike, on a 0.79Ha site on Lower Wokingham Road.
The site currently comprises a single bungalow and outbuildings with amenity space.
The plans seek to demolish the existing bungalow and associated garage outbuilding, and build up to 18 houses across the site.
Outline permission has been applied for, with only the principle of development being formally considered under this application.
Access, appearance, layout, scale and landscaping are all reserved matters for future consideration.
Whilst the Local Plan Update for Wokingham is at a consultative stage of preparation, and therefore holds limited weight in the planning balance, the borough does not have a 5-year housing land supply.
Legislation states that where there are no relevant development plan policies, or the policies which are most important for determining the application are out-of-date, permission should be granted unless the “adverse impacts of doing so would significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits, when assessed against the policies.
The proposal has been deemed acceptable by councill officers in relation to the existing countryside and landscape, albeit with the access, layout, scale, appearance and landscaping still to be formally considered at a later date.
It is considered that suitable dwelling types, mix and standards have the potential to be achieved, and 18 dwellings is an appropriate density on the settlement edge.
It has also been demonstrated that the proposal, in principle, has suitable access provision to and from Lower Wokingham Road and can be accommodated in the existing highway network.
It is recognised that opportunities for sustainable modes of transport in this location are lacking, but not to a sufficient degree that the site would be at odds with the existing settlement of Crowthorne.
One condition of the approval will be to ensure that 40% of the planned homes are “affordable”.
