Plan for 50 homes next to school near Oxfordshire opposed

Deanfield Homes has applied to build 50 new homes next to Maiden Erlegh Chiltern Edge secondary school in Sonning Common.

The school falls under South Oxfordshire District Council's jurisdiction, and is attended by pupils in the surrounding area of Caversham and Reading.

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The development would see a mix of houses and flats built on part of the school's playing fields.

Neighbours living in Reades Lane have objected to the application, complaining about increased disturbance.

An anonymous resident wrote: "We believe that the close and immediate proximity of the proposed development to the existing properties on Reades Lane is highly likely to result in noise, disturbance and nuisance to the detriment of the residential amenity.

"The proposal would demonstrably harm the amenities enjoyed by the neighbouring residents and affect their privacy."

Another neighbour, who has not been named, argued against the loss of 2.5 hectares of green space.

The secondary school in Sonning Common (Image: Google Maps) They wrote: "The development would result in the loss of a significant area of playing field land, which is not considered to be surplus, and no mitigation is proposed for the loss of playing fields."

The neighbour added that future occupants would be reliant on cars rather than public transport, leading to an 'unacceptable impact' on roads.

The application would provide 95 residential spaces and 10 visitor spaces.

The neighbour also pointed out that a similar plan was refused in November 2023 because no mitigation was made for the loss of the playing field space, and a lack of information on how it would promote sustainable transport methods.

Sonning Common Parish Council has offered qualified support for the current project.

This support is subject to keyworker housing being provided within the development, as well as homes being designated for teachers.

The parish council's planning committee has also requested that funding from the development be allocated for traffic calming measures in Reades Lane.

The project has also received support from a South Oxfordshire council affordable housing officer, as it would provide 20 new affordable homes.

Of those, seven will be made available at social rent level, five at affordable rent level, with five being designated 'First Homes' and three being designated as 'Low Cost Home Ownership'.

These are made up of five two-bed and two three-bed social rent houses and three one-bed and two two-bed social rent flats.

A three-bed house and two two-bed houses would be assigned as Low Cost Home Ownership.

The project is under consideration with a target decision date of May 23.

You can view the application by typing reference P24/S3629/FUL into South Oxfordshire council's planning portal.