PLANS for 153 homes on farmland in Wokingham have been approved by the council.

David Wilson Homes’ applied for planning permissions to construct one, two, three and four bedroom homes on Ashridge Farm in Warren House Road.

Wokingham Borough Council (WBC)’s Planning committee approved the plan on Wednesday, December 16.

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Three apartment blocks will be built, containing one and two-bedroom flats, as well as terraces and semi-detached and detached houses.

There will be 53 affordable homes, 335 parking spaces, and 26 acres of public open space will be provided on the site, which is one mile north of Wokingham town centre.

The developer has also agreed to sign over part of the land to Wokingham Borough Council, so a section of the Northern Distributor Road (NDR) can be built on it.

However, they developers must complete another Flood Risk Assessment and update plans for an effective drainage system before construction can begin.

The developers are planning to divert Ashridge Stream to reduce the risk of flooding, but part of the site will be built in Flood Zone 3, which means there is a high risk of flooding.

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According to the plans, part of the public space will be in that high-risk flood zone, but no homes will be built in it.

The plan had been objected to by Wokingham Town Council.

Town councillor Abby Tebborth raised concerns at the meeting about odour from the sewage works, flood risk, the impact on local infrastructure such as GPS and the loss of open space.

Jessica Sparkes, representing David Wilson Homes, said it would not be in their interest to progress on a site if there were issues with odour, denying it would be an issue, and said a large amount of open space would be retained.

Council officers suggested smells would be an issue in just a small area for just a few days a year and said: “There is not much you can do about that”.

Nine councillors voted in favour of the plan, with just Carl Doran and Gary Cowan voting against.

Councillor Carl Doran welcomed the affordable housing but raised concern about the odour.

Supporting the plan, councillor Malcolm Richards said: “We are required to build houses – we have targets to achieve.

“If we are going to build them, it is better to build them in a place where we can manage them and get better facilities.”

And Cllr Simon Weeks, chair of the committee, said it would be an essential part of delivering the NDR, while providing a significant amount of affordable housing.