A PROPERTY developer wants to build 30 new apartments in Ruscombe Park.
Last month, Bankfoot APAM applied for planning permission to construct a new, three storey apartment block on Ruscombe Park, to bring 20 flats to the village. It also wants to expand Interserve House with an extra 10 dwellings.
The proposed flats range from one-bedroom to three-bedroom units.
They all come with balconies, and the development includes 67 car parking spaces and 72 cycle spaces. One fifth of the parking spots will have electric charging points.
The application comes after 41 flats were approved on the site in Ruscombe last year.
Bankfoot APAM said the total 71 apartments will help Ruscombe Park transition from a business to residential setting.
The planning application has received a number of objections from local residents.
One, from Richard Bruton, raised concerns about increasing strain on local facilities, including schools.
Roy Townsend also objected to the proposal and said it will “greatly impact” parking on nearby roads by offering fewer allocated spaces than the overall number of flats.
He also questioned whether the building would be to scale with the rest of the village.
John Halsall, leader of Wokingham Borough Council and ward councillor for Remenham, Wargrave and Ruscombe, said it is an “interesting proposal”.
“I’ve listed it for the planning committee as a ward councillor because it’s completely at odds with what is around it,” he said. “That does not make it necessarily wrong because it offers one- and two-bedroom flats which we need in the borough.
“I’ve got an open mind and I’m not necessarily all against, nor am I all in favour of it.”
Graham Howe, fellow ward councillor said he has multiple concerns with the planning application.
“Increasing the height of the building, increasing traffic in and out of the state, and sufficiency of parking are among the questions being asked,” he said.
“We need to build the right properties in the right places for the right people. It is not clear to me that the application fits those criteria.”
Cllr Howe is now asking residents to engage in the consultation process and “make their voices heard”.
“I will support whatever the residents desire,” he added, “as it is they who live close by and are most affected.”
The public consultation ends on Saturday, May 29.
For more information, visit www.planning.wokingham.gov.uk/FastWebPL/welcome.asp and search for application number 211214
