Latest news with #Arborfield
BBC News
27-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Wokingham Borough Council refuses more than 100 new homes
Plans to build 111 homes that residents worried would turn their village into a "small town" have been refused by a Dandara Southern Ltd and Elstree Land Ltd wanted to build the properties on land north of Reading Road in currently private, agricultural land would provide a mixture of one to four-bedroom homes, 40% of which would be Wokingham Borough Council's planning department said the location was a greenfield site in the countryside, which was "unacceptable in principle". The developers' agent argued the site was sustainably located, within walking distance of services and land is around 1km west of the brand new centre of Arborfield Cross and close to bus stops that run services into Reading, Shinfield and added the houses would be designed "to respect and reflect the character of the area", which they described as "semi-rural".But residents said the homes plan was "the last thing Arborfield needs" and worried about the "additional traffic it will generate".The could said the plans would result in a development "with a scale, character and density that is out of keeping with character and appearance of the area and countryside".It added the location would result in residents being overly reliant on cars, as there was a "poor quality of the local walking environment". You can follow BBC Berkshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
BBC News
26-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
University of Reading says farm sale cash will be reinvested
A university has said the planned sale of farmland to build a new village will raise money for food science first emerged in 2021 for nearly 4,000 new homes around the River Loddon near Arborfield, land includes Hall Farm, which is part of the University of Reading's Centre for Dairy university's vice-chancellor Prof Robert Van der Noort said the money would be reinvested in agricultural studies under the terms of a trust covering the land. Speaking to BBC Radio Berkshire, he insisted the sale would not prop up the university's general said: "We just bought another farm... The opportunity we get by generating an income from this by having houses built on it allows us to build new facilities, modern facilities."All universities find the current situation really challenging but... the money we generate from the sale of Hall Farm can only be reinvested in research in agriculture and food sciences." In 2024, the university bought 650 acres of farmland at Farley for £ Van de Noort said the sale of Hall Farm would raise "multiple more" than that have criticised the proposed development of 3,930 new parish councillor Paul Stevens told the radio station: "They're calling it the Loddon Garden Village. We are not convinced it will be a garden. It doesn't sound like a village."Add it to the 4,000 houses at Shinfield and the 3,500 at Arborfield Green and what you've actually built is a large town."The blueprint for the development includes a country park, as well as a main road leading to a new bridge over the M4.A planning application is expected to be submitted to Wokingham Borough Council later this year. You can follow BBC Berkshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
