Councillors in Wokingham have refused plans for up to 350 homes and a 68-unit care home, against officers’ recommendation. 

Berkeley Strategic Land’s application for the scheme of one and two-bedroom flats and houses of two, three and four bedrooms, along with the care facility, on 31 hectares of agricultural land and woodland at Blagrove Lane was turned down after a three-hour debate at Wokingham Borough Council’s planning committee on September 11.

Members gave three reasons:

  • Erosion of the separation between settlements
  • Impact on the landscape
  • Lack of a suitable s106 agreement

The scheme, Blagrove Meadows, was to have a 35 per cent proportion of affordable homes but a condition within the approval recommendation allows for the council to increase that to 40 per cent if a land transfer for the care home is not completed within a year.

The scheme was up against considerable opposition. A total of 540 people objected to the initial proposal and, after the care home was added in a revised version, 409 objected.

The team on the project included Boyer on architecture, Lichfields on planning and Glanville on transport.

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