Approval for 850 homes despite hundreds of objections

Outline plans for up to 850 new homes have been approved despite concerns around road safety, congestion and pressure on local services from hundreds of people.

The project at Priors Farm, on the Wokingham/Bracknell border, was approved by Wokingham Borough Council at a meeting on Wednesday.

The 56-hectare (138-acre) site, west of Old Wokingham Road and either side of Easthampstead Road, could include 340 affordable homes, a neighbourhood centre, public open space and land for a primary school.

The council is drawing up a new Local Plan setting out where homes and other development should be built across the borough up to 2040.

Priors Farm forms the largest part of a proposed extension to the South Wokingham Strategic Development Location, where the plan earmarks land for around 1,100 additional homes.

But the proposal attracted 218 objections, with councillors grilling officers about whether the surrounding roads could cope with extra traffic from hundreds of new households.

Bracknell Forest Council also objected, arguing that a safe and deliverable transport strategy had not been demonstrated.

Developer Lightwood Strategic says the site would be divided into eastern and western neighbourhoods around a central park, with a Market Square intended to accommodate businesses such as cafes and bakeries.

The plans also include more than 20 hectares of Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace (SANG) south of Easthampstead Road, alongside walking and cycling routes.

A new roundabout on Old Wokingham Road would provide the main access, with another connection from Easthampstead Road.

The site is currently designated as countryside and is not allocated for development in the adopted Local Plan.

However, officers said Wokingham could demonstrate only a 2.5-year supply of housing land, below the five years required nationally.

They argued the development would make a significant contribution to housing needs, particularly through its affordable homes.

The decision came at Wokingham's first planning committee meeting since new national rules governing how planning applications are determined came into force on October 31.

The new system changes which applications can be decided by elected planning committees and which are dealt with by planning officers under delegated powers.