HUNDREDS of new homes for land south of the M4 have been given the go-ahead by Wokingham Borough Council – despite concerns about air quality.
Nearly 400 properties will be built across sites in Shinfield as two separate applications that were granted permission at a planning meeting last Wednesday (March 11).
It comes as part of the authority’s ambitions to build 2,500 new homes along the M4 in a zone that also comprises the current Hall Farm and the Loddon Garden Village – access for all of them to Reading will be across the Shinfield Arms Roundabout.
Cllr Andrew Grey welcomed the fact that up to 40 per cent of the proposals will be affordable housing, but wanted it ‘locked in’ so it didn’t get watered down further along the planning process.
He also expressed concern about the air quality – and wanted to make sure it was being closely monitored.
He said: “Given the large amount of development that’s happened in Shinfield, the thing that’s most important to residents is that the infrastructure is delivered as promised.
“A concern has been mentioned by residents that the air quality monitoring isn’t completely reliable. There is a lack of monitoring stations nearby which suggests that some of it, particularly for small particles, are estimates.”
191 of the newly greenlit homes will butt up against Loddon Garden Village, to the west of the Eastern Relief Road in between Shinfield and Arborfield.
All developments come as part of the borough council’s local plan.
The first scheme approved last Wednesday, to be built by Bellway Homes and the University of Reading, will be a mixture of home sizes from one-bedroom to five-bedroom houses along with 442 parking spaces.
The developer will also put in funding towards primary schools and GP surgeries.
Around a quarter of the site will remain unbuilt on – mainly along the Eastern Relief Road – as it is most at risk of flooding.
Planners have included pedestrian and cycle links both to the north and south and along Arborfield Road, connecting to Shinfield and to the future Loddon Garden Village.
Improvements to road access will happen one stage at a time – with interim improvements scheduled for the Shinfield Arms roundabout.
Later in the project new bridges will be built over the River Loddon and the M4 to help with traffic.
There will be improvement to bus stops and new island crossings on Arborfield Road and Hollow Lane, a pedestrian crossing in Cutbush lane.
At the same meeting, 183 houses west of Hyde End Road, Shinfield were approved by the committee (application number 252138).
The application was recommended for approval by the council officers said they felt the proposals offered ‘high-quality and sustainable’ homes. At least 40 per cent of the development will be affordable housing.
Permission was granted on the condition that the co-developers, Bloor Homes and and the University of Reading makes contributions towards education, healthcare, green infrastructure, biodiversity net gain monitoring and highway works in other places.
50 homes will be build immediately and the rest can go ahead when improvement works to Shinfield Arms roundabout are finished.
