5:00am Monday 26th July 2010
By Liam Sloan
TWO developers are preparing to submit planning applications for new housing estates – which will see 489 homes being built in Wallingford.
The town’s mayor described the timing of proposals by Berkeley Homes and Wates to develop land south of Bradford’s Brook, in the Winterbrook area, as “totally wrong,” after they revealed they plan to lodge their proposals with South Oxfordshire District Council within weeks.
Berkeley Homes said it would apply for planning permission within “four to six weeks” for a 380-home development, linked to the ring-road at the town’s White Cross roundabout.
It would contain space for a replacement for St John’s Primary School and an extra-care facility for elderly residents, with parkland south of the bridleway crossing the site.
Meanwhile, Wates wants to build 109 houses on neighbouring land, 44 of them affordable, and said it is aiming to submit a planning application by the autumn.
The developer has changed its previous plans, thrown out by a planning inspector in May, by acquiring an interest in Number Two, Winterbrook, which would be demolished to create an access road which is close to the town centre. Wates bosses believe their new proposals will overcome the inspector’s objections.
The two companies are applying for planning permission independently, and each development could be built without the other going ahead.
If all 489 homes were built, only pedestrians, cyclists, buses and emergency vehicles would be able to access the Berkeley Homes estate from Reading Road; motorists would have to drive round the ring road.
Meryl Baker, of Wates, said: “There is an acute housing need in both South Oxfordshire and Wallingford specifically, and especially for affordable homes. We can help meet that need.”
And Berkeley Homes managing director Rameen Firoozan said it had reduced its proposals from 550 homes to 380 after listening to the public.
Both developers will apply for planning permission before South Oxfordshire District Council publishes its Local Development Framework (LDF), outlining where it wants houses to be built in the district by 2026.
Mayor of Wallingford Bernard Stone said: “I have great disappointment that these two developers are progressing their plans ahead of South Oxfordshire District Council completing their LDF.
“These developers are interested in maximizing their profit out of their developments and trying to get it through the process before the LDF is in place.
“It is a widespread view in the town that their attempts to play the system are totally wrong, and not in the best interest of the long-term future of Wallingford.”
Save Winterbrook member Trevor Davies said the lobby group would meet next Friday to formulate its response.
He said he was concerned over whether local infrastructure could cope with the new houses, and said it would create five junctions on Reading Road within 85 metres.
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