Update 19 December 2023
The planning application for phase 1 of this development has still not been decided. One reason for this may be that the Council have been advised that market conditions made the plan to include a 70 bed care home in the development unviable. In view of this advice the Council have decided to continue with just the proposed 130 dwellings. The possibility of increasing the quantity of dwellings by 26 or so by utilising the intended care home site was considered, but rejected in favour of retaining it for future possibilities. This is not the first time that the Council have changed their minds on providing such a facility in the area, as a 60 bed home planned for the Matthewsgreen Farm development was abandoned, allowing Bovis to build blocks of flats on the proposed site instead.
Update 18 September 2023
At the time of writing the planning application for phase 1 of this development has not been decided.
Summary
This application is to build 130 dwellings and a 68 bed care home on Council owned land between the Toutley Depot and the A321 Twyford Road. The contentious issues here are the noise from the adjacent A329(M) and Twyford Road, its susceptibility to flooding and the position of its access onto the Twyford Road. An outline application (ref 211777) was submitted by the Council’s Regeneration Team in May 2021, and in despite of strong opposition, was approved in December 2022. This was followed by the first of three reserved matters applications which are to cover the following aspects:
Phase 1: The Main Infrastructure – the primary access road into and out of the site, the acoustic bund/barrier, flooding attenuation, a pumping station and substation provision;
Phase 2: The Care Home – a 68 bed facility, to be constructed by and for the Council; and
Phase 3: The Residential phase – up to 130 new dwellings, including at least 35% affordable housing and the residual infrastructure requirements (e.g. secondary roads, play areas, Ashridge stream crossing etc.)
The submitted application for Phase 1 (ref 223778) closed for public consultation on 2nd February, and the documents and plans can be viewed/downloaded via the Council’s planning website in the usual manner. ERA response to the Phase 1 reserved matters can be seen here.