AN APPLICATION to build a further 82 units at a mobile home park in Chavey Down was shot down by Bracknell Forest's planning committee last week. 

Owner Warfield Homes hoped to build the extra units on a field connected to the existing development but it was deemed an unsustainable location for new homes by councillors at the meeting of the planning committee last Thursday.

Packed with members of Chavey Down Residents' Association who objected to the plan, planning officers told the committee the development site was "not considered a particularly sustainable location" due to its poor access to shops, schools and GP surgeries.

More than 50 individual objections were made against the plan as well as a petition of 30 signatures listing damage to wildlife and traffic congestion as key reasons it should be refused. 

Speaking on behalf of residents, Jacquie Lovell said: "The borough character assessment states that the north is made up of small settlements with their own identity, this will see the coalescence of Chavey Down and Whitegrove.

"In summary this application damages the area in a far more environmentally and historically sensitive site than the Gladman development for 70 homes at Locks Ride."

Agent for Warfield Homes, Martin Taylor, said: "The applicant has agreed to provide 25 per cent of the homes as affordable, the remaining homes will be low cost, the average price of a new park home at Warfield Park is £290,000, compared to over £450,000 for a two-bed bungalow in the same area. Park homes are mostly occupied by older people, they generate less in the way vehicle movements, this has been confirmed by traffic surveys. Traffic surveys have also confirmed that Long Hill junction can accommodate the increase caused by the proposed extension."

Cllr Suzie Phillips claimed the area is not safe for children to walk to school in with poor bus links and pointed out that the developers could not stop a young family from moving in to one of the new homes, she said: "Because it's more affordable in the area, parents with young children or a child may want to live here and I can't see a 'going to school plan' and I'm curious, will they walk to school?"

Chairman Cllr Colin Dudley said the application was a "balancing act" for the committee, who had to decide if the benefits of the application outweighed the negatives. 

The application was refused by a vote of ten to four.