Nearly 400 new homes south of the M4 have been given the go-ahead by Wokingham Borough Council despite concerns about air quality. The two planning applications were approved at a meeting on Wednesday, March 11, and both cover sites in Shinfield.
The schemes form part of the council’s local plan to build 2,500 homes along the M4 corridor, a zone that also includes Hall Farm and the future Loddon Garden Village. Access to Reading for all developments will be via the Shinfield Arms Roundabout.
One approval, from Bellway Homes and the University of Reading, includes homes ranging from one- to five-bed properties and 442 parking spaces. The developer will contribute funds towards primary schools and GP surgeries. Around a quarter of that site — mainly by the Eastern Relief Road — will remain unbuilt because of flood risk. Planners have added pedestrian and cycle links to Shinfield and the proposed Loddon Garden Village, staged road improvements with interim works at Shinfield Arms, and later new bridges over the River Loddon and the M4 to ease traffic. There will also be better bus stops, island crossings on Arborfield Road and Hollow Lane, and a pedestrian crossing in Cutbush Lane.
191 of the newly greenlit homes will sit next to Loddon Garden Village, to the west of the Eastern Relief Road between Shinfield and Arborfield.
The committee also approved 183 houses west of Hyde End Road (application number 252138). Council officers recommended approval, calling the proposals “high-quality and sustainable” homes. The co-developers, Bloor Homes and the University of Reading, must make contributions towards education, healthcare, green infrastructure, biodiversity net gain monitoring and wider highway works. Fifty homes will be built immediately; the remainder can progress once Shinfield Arms roundabout improvement works are finished.
Cllr Andrew Grey welcomed that up to 40 per cent of the proposals will be affordable housing but said it should be protected as the plans move forward. He also warned about air quality and monitoring, saying:
“Given the large amount of development that’s happened in Shinfield, the thing that’s most important to residents is that the infrastructure is delivered as promised.
“A concern has been mentioned by residents that the air quality monitoring isn’t completely reliable. There is a lack of monitoring stations nearby which suggests that some of it, particularly for small particles, are estimates.”
Ted O'Neill, Local Democracy Reporter
Controversial 53 Home Development Approved
