A BRIGHTER future for Finchampstead residents has been promised as improvements are being planned.
Residents were told about the Neighbourhood Development Plan earlier this year. This highlighted summaries of the proposal.
They were asked to give feedback on the policies suggested to help with developments in the Parish until 2036.
The parish council says that 350 people took part, offering much support for most of its proposals.
The plan was created as part of Wokingham Borough Council’s (WBC) own wider local plan update.
Aiming to adapt the plan from the resident responses, the parish council has passed it to Wokingham Borough Council to progress through the next stages for approval.
Part of WBC’s plan was the development of a new garden village near Grazeley, delivering 15,000 new homes in the borough.
Around 3,750 of these were expected to be delivered in the period to 2036.
Earlier this year, a decision to extend the Burghfield AWE emergency planning zone caused the withdrawal of plans to develop Grazeley.
The council now needs to find alternative locations for these homes.
Most homes will be in large developments, but they have warned that additional housing will need to be spread across the borough, including Finchampstead.
Finchampstead Future and the parish council have said that the Development Plan remains the “most important thing” they can do to ensure a brighter future for the community.
Allan Gibson, chair of Finchampstead Future, said this was not the news he had wanted to share.
Mr Gibson explained in an open letter that he is frustrated by the Grazeley decision.
He said: “Ultimately, the plan only becomes the plan after you have voted for it, so you still have the final say on what we propose.
“We will bring you further and more detailed updates as soon as we can as we continue to work on your behalf for our neighbourhood.”
For more information, visit finchampstead-pc.gov.uk
