Wokingham borough councillors were divided over the potential for more car parking problems along a residential road during a discussion about plans for 18 new “affordable” flats.
Wokingham Borough councillors recently discussed a plan to build 18 affordable flats on a field in Strand Way, Lower Earley.
The flats will be contained in three two-storey buildings containing six flats each on the field next to Liberty House in Strand Way, Lower Earley, which was converted from a nursing home into flats in 2019.
The flats plan was previously approved by councillors in January 2022, but this permission has recently expired, prompting the applicant, the Reading Almshouse charity, to submit an identical application.
The project was discussed at a council planning meeting with local representative councillor David Hare objecting to it.
He said: “I welcome affordable housing. My concern is about street parking in a narrow, winding residential road.
“We were told that no one would park on the road outside Liberty House, which is next door.
“Yet the road outside the flats is full of residents’ cars. This makes the road dangerous now.
“I’ve asked repeatedly for these cars and vans to be parked in the car park, to no avail.”
Agreeing, Cllr Moses Iyengunmwena said: “I wasn’t here in 2022 but I do know Strand Way very well, I go there at least once or twice a week because I have people who live at Liberty House,
“I’m inclined to agree with cllr Hare because the on-street parking there is quite hazardous.
“I don’t know what it was like in 2022, but it’s not good now.”
However, other councillors felt the parking provision was appropriate and highlighted the benefits of the scheme.
Cllr Sam Akhtar said: “It’s nice to see a 100% affordable housing development, I have to say, in the borough.
“The amount of times we’ve put through four-bedroom homes that maybe people inside the borough can’t afford,
“I think a number of young families will be lining up to take this, so it’s nice to see affordable homes coming to the borough.”
Cllr Martijn Andrea, chair of the committee, said: “It provides 18 car parking spaces, so for this particular development there is no overflow expected, there’s also parking for cycles, there’s no objections from highways.”
Cllr Carol Jewell added: “It’s not the job of the new application to solve the existing parking problems.”
The application was approved at the planning meeting on Wednesday, July 9.
The development will provide 16 one-bed and two two-bed flats.
The previous plan attracted opposition over a fear that light pollution coming from the flats would cause problems for a professional astronomer.
At the time, councillors agreed that the planning balance favoured the development.
