Hurst groups object to 33 Broadcommon Road homes
TWO HURST protest groups have urged residents to object to plans for up to 33 custom and self-build homes on a green field.
Wokingham Borough Council is running the consultation before it decides whether to give outline planning permission to the scheme at Broadcommon Road.
Protect Hurst Action Group is urging all villagers to object because the land is outside the village settlement boundary. They said there are no exceptional reasons to justify it.
They are also worried about road safety for pedestrians, cyclists, horse riders and others using the lane, and that there are limited buses out from Hurst for residents.
The borough council’s own housing and economic land availability assessment had said the land was unsuitable for development, said the group. Building there would stick out illogically from the existing settlement: the field was more related to the open countryside.
Hurst Village Society, also asking residents to object, is sending in its own comments.
Chairman Jo Newbold said:
“Our objections include that [the site] is outside the village envelope and the access road is already a dangerous, fast single-track road and could not cope with the amount of cars that would be using it from the proposed development on top of the current amount of traffic.”
Replies to the borough council’s consultation are on its website.
Stephen Clapham of Wokingham strongly objected, saying: “I enjoy Hurst as a rural village, regularly walking along its public footpaths… The roads,
lack of reliable bus services, no GP Doctors or Dental surgery and just one village shop, would not support a development like this.
“Furthermore, as a Self-Build development there would be very little, if any, contribution by way of Community Infrastructure Levy.”
But Christopher Squires of Hurst said more borough homes were needed. He reluctantly accepted “that Hurst will play a part in this”. The impact on people living next to the site should be as small as possible.
Overall, he supported the development.
Hurst Parish Council has been studying the planning application and was due to discuss it on Tuesday.
A consulting group, acting for the per Land Promotion, has looked into transport.
They say: “The proposed development is sustainable and would result in no significant highway impacts.”
They predict the 33 new homes would cause a total of 20 vehicle trips coming and going in the morning peak and 17 in the evening peak, adding: “There is a low level of trips, which would be a negligible impact on the local and wider highway network.”
“Pedestrians in the road” signs and new passing bays in the road are also suggested.
Leaper Land says: “By choosing to specialise in Custom and Self-Build, we have set out to improve affordability, and create a way for people to influence the design of their own homes and create something specific to their needs.”
The planning consultation ends on Monday, November 8.