Plans to build five three-bedroom homes on a corner plot in Caversham have been thrown out on appeal. 

Danala Services had applied to Reading Borough Council to build the homes on a site at the junction of Gosbrook Road and George Street, backing onto Christchurch Meadows, in September 2024.

Land Registry documents show the applicant, which is registered in Caversham Heights, bought the land at auction in July 2022 for £337,500.

However the council refused the planning application in a delegated decision in October 2024, citing four key concerns. It said the proposed scheme:

  • Would harm the character and appearance of the area, saying it would be a cramped overdevelopment of the site
  • Is in the highest risk flood zone
  • Provides poor living conditions
  • Fails to state how legally required biodiversity net gain would be achieved

The applicant went to appeal in May and a site visit was made on August 12. Government inspector Martin Allen’s report, published on October 28, dismissed the appeal.

It considered each of the four main RBC reasons for refusal separately and supported the council view in each case.

It states the proposal would have a harmful effect on the character and appearance of the area, adding: “While the area is currently unkempt, the proposed development would result in the introduction of a substantial amount of built development at this prominent location, positioned close to the footway.

“In this respect, it would be distinctly at odds with the previously open nature of the site and would permanently remove the open aspect and its greening contribution.

“I note that the appellant contends that the site is currently making a negative contribution to the area, however this appears to be due, at least in part, to the lack of maintenance of the site as an open space.”

On flood risk, the report says much of the site is in Flood Zone 3b, the highest risk, and says the proposed scheme conflicts with both the Local Plan and the national framework.

On living conditions, it says views from the second bedrooms would offer a severely hemmed in outlook and that residents of the third bedrooms would not experience satisfactory living conditions.

On biodiversity net gain (BNG), the report states there is a requirement to replace trees previously felled on the site but the application failed to provide sufficient information that the required 10 per cent BNG can be achieved.

Mr Allen’s report concludes: “I find that the proposal conflicts with the development plan as a whole and there are no material considerations which carry sufficient weight to warrant a decision otherwise than in accordance with it.”

Visit: https://acp.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/ViewCase.aspx?CaseID=3364774&CoID=0

Image: Google.

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