Countryside campaigners have made a last-ditch plea to scrap plans for 4,000 new homes in Bracknell Forest.
This comes as the Save Jealott’s Hill Campaign handed in a 4,600-strong petition demanding council-backed proposals to build up green space in Warfield are axed.
The campaigners met at Bracknell Forest Council’s Time Square offices to hand in the petition and its responses on Tuesday, November 3.
READ MORE: What are the Jealott's Hill housing plans?
They also demonstrated at Syngenta Research Centre, home to the group which owns the 240 hectares of land set to be developed with new schools, medical facilties, a new Science Park and more alongside the new homes.
The delivery of the results comes as BFC gets set to unveil the latest version of its local plan, which will shape how the borough looks for years to come and which includes the Jealott’s Hill overhaul.
Residents also had a chance to comment on the Jealott’s Hill plans via a consultation launched in late 2019.
In addition to the thousands of petition signatures, another 300 comments were left on the local plan opposing the 4,000 homes proposal.
READ MORE: Here's what residents said about plans to build on Jealott's Hill
Speaking at the delivery of the petition, Patrick Kennedy, Chair of the Campaign Committee, said: “This petition, when added to the thousands of negative comments from local residents in the public consultation in late 2019, should send a clear message to both Syngenta, the Council and the developers who seek to profit from the destruction of our Green Belt that this is simply not acceptable.
“Spurious and misleading justifications have been put forward for this scheme but the reality is that the only people to truly benefit will be the shareholders of Syngenta and the greedy developers who have already swamped Warfield with houses which are not affordable to the great majority of people”.
READ MORE: Council furious with plan to build 4,000 homes at Jealott's Hill
Responses left by backers of the petition came from residents all over the borough from Warfield to Bracknell to Sandhurst, as well as from towns and villages just outside Bracknell Forest which could also be affected by the development, such as Maidenhead, Holyport and Ascot.
Concerns raised about the scheme include worries about losing green, open space, issues surrounding overdevelopment in the borough, fears about big increases in traffic, harm to wildlife and more.
One critic wrote: “This area is already struggling to cope with the amount of housing and traffic.
“Before long we will have to stop calling this area Bracknell Forest and change it to Bracknell concrete jungle. We need green land."
The petition and its comments will also be sent to the MPs for Windsor [Adam Afriyie], Bracknell [James Sunderland], all Bracknell Forest councillors, Syngenta’s global base in Switzerland and to the Chinese ambassador to the UK, as Syngenta is China-owned.
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