Anxious wait for Shinfield residents

Published 23 Nov 2011 09:30

A LONG-awaited inquiry into plans to build more than 2,000 new homes in Shinfield finished on Wednesday last week.

Worried residents now face an anxious wait on the outcome of the appeal, which was launched by Reading University after Wokingham Borough Council rejected plans to build 1,350 homes on land in Hyde End Road, as well as a primary school, 150 units of specialist housing for elderly people, a community building, sports pavilion and shops and offices.

The inquiry was triggered because the application failed to come before the council's planning committee until a year after it was submitted.

Shinfield Parish Council clerk, Jacqui Barnes, said: "The Parish Council in its consultations with local residents has established that the two most significant issues are that the total number of new homes built both in the SDL itself and the parish as a whole should not exceed 2,500, and that the separation of the villages by substantial green gaps should be maintained.

"We will remain in contact with the university and the other developers and continue to push Wokingham Borough Council to ensure that we are involved in these developments at the highest possible level to ensure local voices are heard and not ignored."

Shinfield falls within one of four strategic development locations (SDLs) earmarked by the council within its core strategy, which indicates where more than 12,500 homes should be built across the borough by 2026.

University spokesman Alex Brannen added: "The University feels strongly that the plans it has brought forward take care to meet Wokingham's requirements."

A decision is not expected to be revealed until the middle of next year and if the plans are given the go-ahead, building will not start until 2013.

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