Bell Farm (Legacy)

The development of Bell Farm (Bell Foundry Lane) has been completed by Berkley Homes and has been re-named Eldridge Park. Whilst not in Emmbrook, its proximity to Emmbrook meant the ERA took a relatively close interest in the development through its planning stages. Below are some of the details of that involvement.

A sight that is unlikely to be seen again - cattle at Bell Farm in 2015.
A sight that is unlikely to be seen again – cattle grazing at Bell Farm in 2015.

INTRODUCTION

Many residents will have seen the advertisement on page 5 of the Wokingham Paper dated 27th May, regarding a proposed development of land at Bell Farm, in Bell Foundry Lane.  As mentioned in the advertisement, a public exhibition was held by the developers, Berkeley Homes (Oxford and Chiltern) Ltd, at the Cantley House Hotel on Wednesday 8th June.  As the proposals progress, we will be reporting the latest news in the format that we have already established for the Matthewsgreen Farm Development.

Dateline 3rd August 2016

The text of the ERA response to the planning application.

Dateline 6th July 2016

ERA has been invited by Wokingham Borough Council to submit comments about the proposed development.

Dateline 16th June 2016

Initial thoughts on the proposed development, and a link to the plans that have been shown by the developer.

DATELINE 3rd AUGUST 2016

ERA submitted its formal comments regarding the proposed development and the associated roads to Wokingham Borough Council on 3rd August.  To view our response in full, please click here.

DATELINE 6th JULY 2016

Wokingham Borough Council has invited ERA to submit comments about the proposed development at Bell Farm.  To view the letter from the council, please click here.

DATELINE 16th JUNE 2016

Those of you who use Bell Foundry Lane would have seen that Bell Farm has been deserted, with the entrances blocked to stop squatters, for the last seven to eight months.  As it lies in the Strategic Development Location for North Wokingham it comes as no surprise to us that it has been taken over by developers.  What has been surprising is the speed at which this has happened, as Berkeley Homes held an exhibition of their plans to build 128 dwellings on the site at Cantley Hotel on Wednesday 6th June.  The plans shown at this exhibition, which can be seen by clicking here, are very advanced, and it is clear that they have been in discussions with the Council over them for some time.  We were told at the exhibition that they intend submitting a planning application very soon with the intention of obtaining planning permission in time for construction to begin in October this year.

We have yet to form a view on this development, but will do so after reviewing the detailed plans available when the planning application is submitted.