New luxury homes in construction next to golf course

The construction company Darcliffe Homes is currently building 13 homes in Duffield Road next to Sonning Golf Club.

The site is right on the outskirts of Woodley, as Duffield Road is one of the main spine roads in the town.

Photos from the site show three detached homes are nearly complete.

The development is called Eastfields Green, possibly reflecting its proximity to the golf course.

A site plan shows eight detached houses and a terrace of five homes.

Between the club and the building site, a number of trees have been planted, with a notice stating ‘tree protection, do not remove’.

A tree protection area between Sonning Golf Club and the Eastfields Green development site in Duffield Road, between Sonning and Woodley. (Image: James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporting Service)

The project has a complicated planning history stretching back a decade.

The plan for homes on the site was first submitted to Wokingham Borough Council, the planning authority for Sonning, in 2016.

While the project was rejected by the council, the applicants successfully appealed against this decision to the government’s planning inspectorate.

At the time, appointed planning inspector David Cliff acknowledged that the land was designated as countryside, but would positively contribute to housing supply in the area.

Mr Cliff concluded: “Thirteen new dwellings, including the affordable provision, would make an important contribution to the supply of housing.

“I have also given moderate weight to the economic benefits from construction and the future support for local services and facilities.

“Pedestrian improvements on Duffield Road would also provide modest benefits to accessibility in the area.

“Overall, the adverse impacts do not significantly and demonstrably outweigh
the benefits.”

He therefore granted the appeal in July 2018.

At that stage, the plan was submitted by Sonning Golf Club itself, which had put forward outline plans for the homes on land which it owned.

The approved plans were then sold to the housebuilder Darcliffe Homes for implementation.

A series of detailed applications followed relating to the design and materials used for the homes.

Controversially, in April last year, Darcliffe Homes applied to remove the on-site affordable housing from the development.

During the appeal, it was stated that five of the homes within the development would be designated affordable, along with a monetary contribution to the council.

Of those, three would have been socially rented, and two would have been shared ownership.

Mr Cliff noted that affordable housing provision would have been one of the benefits of the development.

However, Alder King Property Consultants conducted a financial viability assessment concluding it would be economically unviable to deliver affordable housing on site.

Instead, Darcliffe Homes has offered to pay a £355,000 contribution to off-site affordable housing.

This application is currently being considered by Wokingham council’s planning department.

You can view the application by typing reference 250974 into the council’s planning portal.