Plans for Compton to 2037 are under review
THE people of Compton could soon be going to vote in a referendum on the future of their village.
A three-year project on development of the West Berkshire parish until 2037 is now complete.
It includes building 140 new homes on the former Pirbright Institute site, which would see the population of the village increase by around 360 – more than 20 per cent.
The Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP) has been prepared by residents of Compton and is due to be approved at West Berkshire’s full council tonight (Thursday).
NDPs are formal planning documents that allow local communities to shape the future of the areas in which they live and they include policies for development and the use of land.
If the Compton NDP is successful at the local referendum, it will be immediately adopted as part of the wider development plan – known as the Local Plan – for West Berkshire.
That Local Plan, which is currently in draft, allocates the former Pirbright Institute for Animal Health site as a residential-led mixed use site.
It contains a number of policies to encourage the comprehensive development of the site in order to deliver an appropriate residential-led scheme with employment floorspace, community facilities and green infrastructure.
A provisional Compton referendum date of February 10, 2022 is on the cards.
Other elements in the Compton plan include:
Restricted development in open countryside.
Redevelopment of the student hostel complex (believed to consist of at least 12 one- or two-bedroom flats.)
Farm building diversification
Conservation and renovation of the cricket ground as a public space
Improved parking.