The developer in possession of the huge plan to build a housing estate on Reading Golf Course has made some substantial changes to it.
Back in March, outline planning permission was granted to build the old Reading Golf Course site off Kidmore End Road in Emmer Green.
Approval for the development was secured by Fairfax and Reading Golf Club which later sold the plan to housebuilders Vistry Thames Valley.
Vistry has applied to make changes to the development in a detailed application laying out information regarding the housing mix, energy efficiency measures and more.
One of the key changes would be increasing of the number of three bedroom homes by reducing the number of two bedroom and four bedroom homes.
The outline approval contained a total of 63 three bedroom homes, 50 on market and 13 designated affordable.
Now, Vistry wants to increase the three bedroom home total to 74, with 57 being on market and 17 being affordable.
It has also applied to make significant changes to parking, with 37 of the homes having approved garages removed and a second outdoor car parking space provided instead.
Furthermore the number of visitor and car club parking spaces has been increased from a paltry four to 46.
Controversially, Vistry wants to get rid of a condition which states that all homes in the development must have air source heat pumps, which uses electricity in part of the heating process.
However, Pegasus, the planning agency for Vistry have stated that the local electricity provider has advised that it does not have the capacity to provide all homes with these pumps.
Therefore, Vistry has proposed to reduce the number of air source heat pumps to serve a maximum of 81 homes, with the majority of homes being served by high efficiency gas boilers and solar panels.
The development has been opposed from the outset by the Keep Emmer Green group, which unsuccessfully campaigned for it to be rejected.
Although the campaign scored a victory in June 2021 when a plan for 257 homes on the site was shot down, ultimately the council’s planning committee approved a 223 home application despite a record breaking number of more than 4000 objections.
In an objection letter, the Keep Emmer Green campaign argued the detailed application is “a major step away” from the approved plans.
The campaign also pointed out that Vistry’s attempt to change conditions 19 (regarding habitat enhancement) and 20 (regarding the Construction Environmental Management Plan (CEMP), application reference 220738, was rejected by the council’s planning department in November.
Keep Emmer Green has highlighted that the refused changes to these conditions have resurfaced in the most recent application.
To view the changes Vistry want to make, type reference 221312 into the council’s planning portal.
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