THE COUNCIL is set to assess house building in Barkham after councillors debated development in the area.

More than 4,000 people signed a petition demanding councillors debate the building of an additional 1,000 homes in Barkham, in what was the largest petition ever to be brought to the council.

Chris Heyliger, co-organiser of the petition, said: “Over four thousand people have expressed their concern by signing this petition.

“An additional 1,000 homes in Barkham would more than treble its size.

“We do nothing to alleviate traffic passing through Barkham.”

Mr Heyliger pointed out that Barkham residents welcomed a strategic gap in the area in order to protect the rural side of the village.

He continued “Yes, our children need houses but they also deserve having a countryside to enjoy.

“In the largest petition ever presented to the borough, surely this can not be ignored.”

The council’s mayor Cllr John Kaiser stepped down from his duty as mayor to oversee the council meeting to join the debate in the back benches and he said an extra 1,000 homes in the area will “place a blight on Barkham and the countryside.”

He also noted that Wokingham MP John Redwood supported the petition.

Labour councillor Andy Croy told the council he has family ties to the area and that he “shared the fears” of Barkham residents, but warned his colleagues that whatever action is taken in the area needs to be “big, bold and and radical” after years of growth in the area due to its proximity to London.

Liberal Democrats councillor Ian Pittock told the council: “We were promised there was to be no creeping developments around the SDL.

“And yet here we are with an application for an extra 1,000 houses which is far above creeping development.

“I assure you that my residents will not welcome the extra traffic this will bring.

“These 1,000 additional homes are an ask too far for the residents of Finchampstead, Arborfield and Barkham.”

Conservative councillor Stuart Munro explained that the petition may have been “premature” because the council’s local plan has been posted for consultation, which asks residents for their views on where houses should be built in the borough.

Another slammed planning inspectors in Bristol for taking control of development decisions for Wokingham, but Lib Dems councillor Lindsay Ferris pushed back, saying: “I believe that Wokingham Borough Council has not been forthright enough in opposing the overall number of housing being pushed into our area.”

Labour councillor Carl Doran also expressed his concern with the local plan consultation, claiming the document “effectively states the houses are coming, ‘prepare yourself'”.

But Conservative councillor responded to this, saying: “I urge those 4 and a half thousand people to go online and put their comments in our consultation. Come along and give us reviews.”

The debate ended with petition co-organiser Graham Dexter saying: “Housing policy has become a numbers game which helps developers.”

The council’s response was distributed to councillors and members of the audience at the end of the debate, and it read: “All sites will be subject to comprehensive assessment and engagement before the council approves its preferred strategy and site allocations through the statutory Local Plan process.

“Subsequently we will resist the alternative options being promoted taking account of the specific circumstances in each case.

“The process will only be complete once the plan has been endorsed by the inspector and adopted by the council.”