PLANS to build 15,000 homes in Grazeley have moved a step closer after the government announced hundreds of thousands of pounds of funding for the project.

The move means yet more development could take place in Wokingham borough despite fury from residents at the building of thousands of homes across the area.

However, leader of Wokingham Borough Council, Cllr Julian McGhee-Sumner, told the News he did not want people to fear the news.

He said: “They’ve given us a sum of money to work out whether it is feasible or not - it wasn’t feasible before.

“One of the things I have made clear to the government is having a separate settlement is probably the thing to do.

“What we can’t keep doing is putting up houses around the rest of the borough.”

The ministry of housing, communities and local government will contribute £750,000 towards developing the plans in order to “fast-track specialist survey work and planning works necessary” for the proposals.

Wokingham Borough Council, Reading Borough Council and West Berkshire Council submitted a joint bid for the funding and will share the cash as they look to test the possibility of the plans.

This news comes just over 72 hours after Cllr McGhee-Sumner told residents “enough is enough” with government-imposed housing targets wreaking havoc in the borough.

Despite this, the leader was unaware of the government plans before making his speech and told the News he was “surprised” at the allocation.

John Redwood, MP for Wokingham, famously planted a tree at the Grazeley site in 1998 as a gesture of his opposition to homes being built on the site.

He told the News: “My view is Wokingham should seek to revise the local plan to a slower rate of new building in the future than the very fast current annual build rate. I have not supported a new settlement at Grazeley.

“Wokingham and West Berkshire Councils should seek guarantees about the future build rate overall, with more protection than we currently enjoy against future grants of house building in locations outside the local plan, when considering where future new housing might best be placed.”

The funding comes as part of £3.7 million set to be distributed to councils across the country to look at building ‘garden towns’, including at Grazeley, which could mean up to 64,000 new homes are created nationwide.

Kit Malthouse, minister of state for housing, claimed the new infrastructure could leave “a legacy for future generations to be proud of.”

He added: “The new Grazeley Garden Town could not only provide homes for local families, but would be a vibrant place where everyone, including the wider Wokingham area, can benefit from new infrastructure - leaving a legacy for future generations to be proud of.

“I congratulate Wokingham Council, West Berkshire District Council and Reading Borough Council for putting forward their ambitious proposal, which could deliver up to 15000 high-quality homes, and am pleased to support them as they work to make these plans a reality.”

The Wokingham Liberal Democrats group has set up a petition demanding an end to excessive development in the borough which now has more than 500 signatures despite the petitions website crashing due to a high volume of people signing the ‘revoke article 50’ petition in the last few days.

Speaking about the allocation of the funds, Cllr Lindsay Ferris told the News: “My view is that we have always taken the view that the number of properties being on Wokingham is far too many.

“Why should we be taking 20,000 the best part of 20,000 homes over the next 20 years?

“We need to have a very serious look at what is achievable and what can be delivered.

“All we can see is our area being destroyed, our environment affected and more gridlock.

“It is changing the whole character of the area and I don’t see the benefit.”