Public meeting on housing plans

Adam Hewitt • Published 7 Jan 2009 12:00 0 Comments

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SWEEPING plans to build thousands of new homes in Shinfield and Arborfield go under the microscope later this month.

Wokingham Borough Council has created four development hotspots to site at least 10,500 of the expected 13,230 homes that must be built to satisfy national Government targets. The biggest site is at Arborfield Garrison, set to take 3,500 homes over the next 20 years, while another area between Shinfield and Three Mile Cross will take a further 3,000.

Zones north and south of Wokingham will provide space for 2,000 homes each. A Government inspector is examining the plans in March, but is holding a pre-inquiry meeting later this month to get the ball rolling.

Shinfield Parish Council chairman John Heggadon said this week many villagers were "totally bemused" by the complexity of the process, but said: "They are battle-fatigued from fighting all these different proposals over the years, I think people accept now that come what may there is going to be a lot more housing in this area."

He said a further worry is that with plans for centralisation of Ministry of Defence training in South Wales in doubt, and land values falling, the proposed sale of Arborfield Garrison may never go ahead. This could mean the 3,500 homes allocated for that site might have to be shifted elsewhere in the borough if Wokingham councillors cannot persuade the Government otherwise.

He said: "People are worried this could mean even more housing for good old Shinfield - there's a lot going on behind the scenes."

When the scope of the plans became clear last year villagers contacted The Chronicle fearful their communities would be buried under an avalanche of new housing.

Don Bulcock, from Hollow Lane in Shinfield, said: "It's absolutely catastrophic for the area, the infrastructure is certainly not suitable and unless they address that first we're really going to be in bad shape."

The pre-inquiry meeting on Tuesday, January 20, is open to the public, and starts at 2pm at Wokingham Methodist Church at The Bradbury Centre in Rose Street, Wokingham.

For details contact Robert Young by emailing: robert.young@wokingham.gov.uk

This article appeared in Reading Chronicle 08 Jan 09

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