No let-up in the battle over LRIE
Campaigners turn up the heat over council plans
QUESTIONS around the viability and purpose of the former Faraday Road football pitch site in the centre of Newbury once again dominate West Berkshire Council’s executive committee this evening (Thursday).
The questions have been repeatedly asked by campaigners, who claim the council’s plans for a multi-million-pound Sports Hub on Monks Lane are a waste of money.
The same group are also questioning the validity of the London Road Industrial Estate plans, where the Faraday Road pitch sits.
John Gotelee has asked several public questions of the council’s leading committee, demanding to know what problems the council foresees in turning the pitch into a brownfield site and wants to know why hockey and cricket are being left out of the sports hub proposal.
“In respect of the plans for the LRIE to remain an industrial estate, one can assume that vehicle movements will remain roughly the same so is the new A339 junction just another tax payer funded white elephant demonstrating that the council cannot be trusted with the public purse?” he asked.
Another regular thorn in the council’s side is Paul Morgan, of the Newbury Community Football Group organisation, and he is firmly of the
view that the council is wasting public money, as well as denying community groups a much-needed playing pitch.
“Can the council please provide full details on how much officers’ time, over the past 10 years, has been recorded against the overall LRIE redevelopment project?” he asked.
The planning decision to allow the Monks Lane Sports Hub is currently subject to legal challenge, prompting more questions of the executive.
The application to prevent the development was originally refused by the High Court, but following an appeal heard on August 18, will now proceed to a full hearing.
“With the pending/upcoming judicial review, and despite the council’s publicly expressed confidence in their case, would it not be prudent, in light of the council’s track record with legal challenges, to remove the risk of wasting yet more taxpayers’ money should they lose the case, by withdrawing the current application/approval and submitting a new application that is totally unambiguous and states categorically that the Monks Lane Sports Hub is intended as the main part of a replacement facility for the Faraday Road football stadium?” asked Vaughan Miller (Lib Dem, East Fields) of Newbury Town Council.
The district council says it remains confident of its position and will continue to robustly defend this claim to ensure that the sports facility can be delivered.
Those opposing the hub say the nub of the issue is that the councillors all voted for the application based on it being a stand-alone sport hub.
West Berkshire Council executive member for housing, leisure and culture Howard Woollaston (Con, Lambourn), said after the latest appeal hearing: “This decision is extremely disappointing as it will result in a delay to the delivery of a high-quality, and much-needed sports facility, including a world-class artificial turf pitch and clubhouse.”
The date for this hearing is not yet confirmed.
The group further ask if the regeneration of the LRIE is viable without building either commercial or residential units on the Faraday Road pitch.
In June, West Berkshire Council abandoned its plans to build flats on the old pitch.
The Conservative-run council now plans to dedicate the site to “commercial space” by 2026.