15,000 home plan may be scrapped due to 'potential radiation emergency'

Wokingham Borough Council, West Berkshire Council and Reading Borough Council have spent several years working on plans for the massive development.

But the project has been thrown into doubt, after a Detailed Emergency Planning Zone (DEPZ) was extended to cover most of the site in Grazeley that had been earmarked for the new homes.

That means that anyone living in the zone, which is around the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Burghfield, could be affected by a “reasonably foreseeable” radiation emergency.

READ MORE: Reading Council scraps £180 million commercial property spending spree

West Berkshire Council has pulled out and Wokingham Borough Council said it is looking at alternative sites because the Grazeley project “may no longer be achievable”.

Reading Borough Council says it has not pulled out yet but the project “cannot be delivered at this time” without the support of the other two councils.

Bryan Lyttle, West Berkshire Council’s planning policy manager, said: “Our local plan period runs to 2037. We will not be considering Grazeley during that period for residential development, but things can change.

“If the DEPZ does change again, we will have to reconsider it in local plans coming forward in the future.”

The Ministry of Defence has also objected to plans for the development, stating that the new homes should not be built within the DEPZ.

“This is a disappointment,” said Cllr Wayne Smith, executive member for planning at Wokingham Borough Council.

“We believed a garden town at Grazeley was a great way to provide homes local people need in a way that would safeguard our environmental and economic future.

“It seems that perhaps the Ministry of Defence isn’t in step with other parts of the government, as they awarded Grazeley garden city status in 2019.”

Cllr Tony Page, Reading’s lead councillor for planning, said the extension of the DEPZ “casts considerable doubt over whether Grazeley can be delivered”.

He added: “Whilst the council has not formally withdrawn its conditional support for Grazeley, clearly the proposal cannot be delivered at this time without the support of the two authorities within which it is located.

“The issues that Grazeley was proposed to address have not gone away however.

“There is still a critical need to meet the area’s housing needs, including affordable housing, in a location or locations where it can be supported by the right level of new infrastructure to ensure it does not place burdens on other areas.

“Reading’s Local Plan has identified sites to meet almost all of its own need, but additional housing development in neighbouring authorities will still be required.

READ MORE: Ambitious housebuilding target announced as planners focus on two towns

“The council is committed to continuing to work with Wokingham Borough Council and West Berkshire District Council on identifying and bringing forward the sites to meet these needs.”

The three Berkshire councils had been exploring plans to build on a 687 hectare site, which was outside the DEPZ boundary.

Last year, the government announced a £3.7 million fund for the Grazeley development and four other “garden towns”, that were expected to provide 64,000 homes across England.

But earlier this year, the government rejected a bid for £250 million to support the Grazeley project.

The councils refused to scrap the project after that major setback and said they were exploring other funding options.