Questions have been raised about the status of ambitious plans to transform the village of Grazeley into a ‘garden town’ that appear to have been put on hold.
A scheme to transform Grazeley into a ‘garden town’ with 15,000 homes has been discussed in recent years and received the support of Wokingham Borough Council, Reading Borough Council, and West Berkshire Council.
Yet the plans have been all but scrapped after Defence Nuclear Organisation -part of the Ministry of Defence- objected to them in December 2020 due to the Grazeley’s proximity to the nuclear site in Burghfield.
The transformation of Grazeley is the brainchild of three companies: housebuilders Crest Nicholson, land surveyors Hallam Land Management, and Wilson Enterprises Ltd.
READ MORE: Massive 2,500 homes could be built in Berkshire village
Despite the Ministry of Defence objecting to their vision, it seems this triplet of developers have not completely abandoned their plans, as areas within Grazeley feature in a map of ‘suggested sites’ as part of the Wokingham Local Plan Update.
The Plan Update is being conducted with the view to allocate new sites for development.
In Grazeley, the development sites which feature in the update are bound by the A33 to the east and the Reading to Basingstoke train line to the west.
Each area considered for development has a site reference.
EXPLAINER: What is the Wokingham Local Plan Update?
In Grazeley, proposed development would be undertaken at site references 5SH029 and 5SH040 on the map.
These are two large pieces of land, with 5SH029 encompassing six separate land clusters and stretching across 224 hectares. Meanwhile, reference 5SH040 encompasses five clusters and covers 211 hectares of land.
You can view all sites that are being considered by going to the Local Plan Update website then clicking on the interactive map tab.
From there, click the layers button and then make sure the ‘Local Plan Update Suggested Sites’ box is ticked to see all the sites being considered.
If you click a site, it will tell you what type of uses the developers have envisaged.
The developers behind the Grazeley scheme want to build houses, residential institutions (such as retirement homes, a childrens home, a hospital or jail), space for financial and professional service businesses, restaurants and cafes and a drinking establishment at 5SH029.
At 5SH040, the developers want to build houses, residential institutions, restaurants and cafes. but also space for light industrial and general industrial businesses.
The Local Democracy Service has asked Wokingham Borough Council why sites in Grazeley remain on the Local Plan Update map despite the Ministry of Defence’s objection to the plans.
A spokeswoman for the council replied that, although the Grazeley sites remain in consideration to be allocated for development in the Local Plan Update, it was ‘not likely’ that they will be chosen.
The spokeswoman then explained that the council is conducting an assessment of all suggested sites that could be allocated for development. She said: “The map transparently shows all land that has been promoted as available for development by the landowner or interested party.
“We are required to assess all land that has been promoted.
“Whilst some areas of land will be found suitable or potentially suitable, many will be found unsuitable.
“The land at Grazeley has not been withdrawn by the promoters and as such we are required to assess it. As referenced in various press releases, the Grazeley proposal and other areas of land affected by the emergency planning arrangements around AWE Burghfield are not likely to be found suitable or achievable, particularly for housing.
“Our assessment of all sites will be published as part of a new consultation in late November.”
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