Two councils have clashed over plans to build hundreds of homes close to the border of their boroughs.
Bracknell Forest council has refused to support plans put forward by Wokingham Borough council for 275 homes on land west of Wokingham Road and south of Waterloo Road.
These homes are part of the huge 2,500 south Wokingham development, much of which has already been built.
The development will form an urban extension of Wokingham town, stretching across the railway up to land in Bracknell Forest borough.
Along with homes, two new primary schools, shops, two neighbourhood centres and new roads are being proposed.
Due to the scale of the plans, the development has been split up into phases, some of which have already been completed. Montague Park, comprising 1,287 new homes, Montague Floreat Primary school and a neighbourhood centre, has been built.
The south Wokingham distributor road, which will link William Heelas Way and London Road to Easthampstead Road and eventually Finchampstead Road, is currently under construction.
The latest chunk of homes seeking planning approval are on land west of Old Wokingham Road.
The plans are split in two, with one comprising 180 homes, and the other comprising 95 homes following the demolition of equestrian buildings. Plans include associated infrastructure, open space and play areas.
Bracknell Forest Council has been consulted on both due to the site’s proximity to the borough – and has objected to both plans.
The authority said its highways department ‘strongly objects’ to the application for 180 homes because it does not provide an assessment of the potential impacts the homes would have on the transport network.
It further said the proposal does not provide sustainable modes of transport, particularly for pedestrians or those without a car.
Wokingham Borough council would like to add a roundabout to an existing T-junction between Waterloo Road, Old Wokingham Road and Peacock Lane.
Both roads currently allow cars to travel up to 60 miles per hour.
Assessments on the number of cars that currently use the junction – as well as the number that could use it in a future – show the introduction of a roundabout would be suitable.
But further objections were made to the plan for 95 homes, but for different reasons.
Bracknell Forest Council said the area was within open countryside, and that homes within this area would have a ‘harmful urbanising impact’.
Wokingham Borough council is yet to make a decision on its latest chunk of the 2,500 development.
