COUNCILLORS have vowed to fight a renewed bid to build hundreds of homes on land in Winnersh.
Taylor Wimpey have submitted an application to Wokingham Borough Council to create a new estate on Winnersh Farm, despite having had previous bids for homes rejected.
Documents submitted to Wokingham Borough Council’s planning department state they wish to build 234 homes on the land off Watrmore Road, with a peldge to make 35% of them affordable.
A map of the development shows clusters of housing, each with gardens and some with garages, backed on to a green space. Two access roads in and out of the development would be created.
It would include a mixture of homes designed to meet identified local needs, including first homes, shared ownership and affordable rented properties.
While there are concerns that the area is in the flood plain, Taylor Wimpey’s plans are in areas designated as having a low probability of flooding, and its flood risk assessment suggests the site could withstand a rare flooding event, even with an allowance for climate change.
The application is an outline planning one, essentially asking for permission for the scheme to go ahead while coming back to the council with final plans when it is ready to do so.
The last application for the site was made in the summer of 2021, by Wokingham Borough Council for its SEND school with 87 homes.
At the time, Cllr Paul Fishwick, chairman of Winnersh Parish Council, and Lib Dem councillor on the borough council, said it was sneaky of the borough council to submit the plans during the summer break.
He also said he feared plans for 87 homes next to the SEND school that is being built on the site would lead to this new proposal.
The original scheme was withdrawn, mainly because access to the site, which would currently be via Maidensfield, a close in Winnersh.
Of this new plan, more than 100 comments have been submitted by members of the public, with many against.
Cllr Prue Bray, ward member for Winnersh on Wokingham Borough Council, said she and her Lib Dem colleagues would fight the proposal.
“Winnersh councillors have opposed Taylor Wimpey’s similar plans twice before and we oppose them now. Nothing has changed that would make the plans acceptable,” she said.
“We have put out leaflets to hundreds of residents in the area around the site, alerting them to the application, and we secured additional time for residents to comment on it.”
And Wokingham Conservatives did not comment on the application itself, but on the ward councillors.
Cllr Wayne Smith, shadow executive member for planning said, “We know that the Liberal Democrats have opposed this development in the past.
“Cllr Prue Bray, especially, has been vocal in her opposition to previous planning applications at Winnersh Farm.
“We look forward to the Liberal Democrat administration keeping their promises to the electorate.”
Taylor Wimpey said its plans would bring benefits to the community including employment opportunities and increased revenue for the council. It was also communicating with the council over ensuring appropriate access into Winnersh Farm could be created.
A spokesperson for the housebuilder said: “We submitted the planning application for the Winnersh Farms site to Wokingham Borough Council in January 2023, and we are very grateful for all of the feedback received as part of our community engagement exercise, which included an in-person consultation event held in Winnersh.
“Our application includes a suite of detailed technical documents which demonstrate how we plan to deliver this site, including a Flood Risk Assessment, Surface Water Drainage Strategy and a Transport Assessment.
“We continue to proactively engage with Wokingham Borough Council and we believe that our proposals will deliver significant economic, environmental and community benefits, as well as much-needed high-quality new homes in Winnersh.”
The application is number 230208, and can be viewed at: planning.wokingham.gov.uk
This article was updated on March 13, to make clear the last application was made by Wokingham Borough Council in 2021, and relates to the SEND school and 87 homes being built in the area, and also to correct the nature of this current application, which is for outline planning permission and not reserved matters. Apologies for these errors.
