Hundreds of furious residents have signed a petition demanding the building of a much-needed village centre, which developers have been promising for years. 

Cllr Rebecca Margetts brought forward the petition on behalf of residents of Arborfield Green and beyond who have “lost trust” in the developer, Crest Nicholson, and Wokingham Borough Council to deliver the centre. 

The Arborfield Green development plan included the construction of 2,000 new homes, named the Garden Village, with the promise of a village centre containing a supermarket, pub, and other shops. 

A legal agreement signed between the developer and the council outlined that the building of the centre would begin when the 1,000th house had been built.

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Cllr Margetts told the council chamber last week (November 17) that this milestone was “surpassed in 2019”. 

She delivered an impassioned speech on behalf of residents, pointing out that the area where the centre is supposed to be is a “wasteland” containing “unused buildings surrounded by boarding”. 

“Even the ‘village centre coming soon’ sign has been removed,” she added. 

Wokingham Borough Council leader Clive Jones explained how he, alongside the Executive Member for Planning and Local Plan Cllr Lindsay Ferris, met with one of the directors and other senior people at Crest Nicholson a few weeks ago. 

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“We said ‘you really have to be getting on with this, it’s gone past the 1,000 homes milestone and it’s not acceptable. You need to be doing something very quickly.’ 

“I am certain they understood this. They went over the housing milestone quite some time ago, so this isn’t something that has happened in the last six months.”   

Councillors heard how patient residents had been but that commitments to move the project forward in 2022 have “repeatedly been broken”. 

Cllr Margetts listed many including an updated announcement about the supermarket, a further public consultation in September, a planning application for the centre to be submitted in the autumn – which she claims none of which happened. 

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She said it has reached the point where residents have “lost complete faith” in the council and Crest Nicholson, who “continue to build and sell even more properties” despite not building the promised centre. 

“Our petition that I hand in today on behalf of Arborfield residents has been signed by over 700 people showing the sense of feeling and dismay. 

“We are calling on Wokingham Borough Council to stand up to developers and Crest Nicholson and hold them to account and deliver their promised village centre without further delay. 

Crest Nicholson were approached for comment.