Building 99 new homes on a green field will be just as harmful as an earlier plan for 200 homes there, it’s been claimed.
Residents are fighting a second battle against homes on the Hurst field, just 18 months after their first fight.
A Protect Hurst Action Group spokesperson said this week: “As they were last time, many of the residents are very concerned. Once again it is inappropriate for Hurst and Whistley Green.
“It’s still as harmful as when they were proposing 200 homes.”
The government Planning Inspectorate turned down the 200 homes in March last year. Four hundred people objected to them.
Now builders Mactaggart and Mickel (Mac Mic) are asking Wokingham Borough Council to approve 99 homes on the same field in Lodge Road (on the B3030 Winnersh to Twyford route).
Mac Mic say they want to build less than half the housing compared with last time, “reducing any perceived harm by more than half.” There would be “a much larger package of benefits to help offset the perceived harm considerably.”
Hurst villagers and the old Hurst Village Society helped pay a barrister to speak for Hurst Parish Council which opposed the 200 homes.
The parish council will decide its view on the new scheme on September 24, having received an extended comments deadline. Parish council chair Penny Curry said the councillors were now considering the plan’s papers in advance of the meeting. She could not comment on employing a barrister again if the council opposed the new plan.
Borough councillor for Hurst Stephen Conway said: “It’s very important to remember Hurst remains a place designated for limited development so development on this scale is not really appropriate.”
He could not see much difference between the old and new plans apart from the fewer homes. “I would have thought the same considerations would be relevant,” he added.
Wokingham Today’s report on Mac Mic’s views can be read by visiting https://wokingham.today/plans-for-99-homes-in-hurst .
Comments on the new plan can be made until September 19 by visiting Wokingham Borough Council’s planning portal and searching for application number 242067.
Resident Matthew Bradbury, among those objecting, said: “Adding 99 homes to Hurst is unsustainable as the infrastructure is not here to support this level of development, school spaces / public transport / road infrastructure.”
