Councillors have clashed with each other and a developer over a plan to build five large homes at a former car yard in the countryside in Finchampstead.
Councillors on Wokingham Borough Council considered the plan by local developer Bancroft to build five five-bedroom homes on a site north of 6 Johnson Drive, a large home with an outdoor swimming pool.
The site has a contentious planning history.
Although a plan to use the site as a car yard was refused in 2002, aerial images show dozens of cars there.
Council planning officer Simon Taylor said the cars have since been removed.
The council also refused six plans for housing on the site between 1998 and 2018.
Most recently an application for 25 houses on the same site was refused and dismissed on appeal in 2019.
But Bancroft Developments has now applied to build five homes on the site, and the plan has been recommended for approval by officer Taylor, amid concerns the council no longer has a five-year land supply.
READ MORE: Five year land supply: the planning rule which could let developers build more homes
The five-year land supply is determined by whether enough sites are allocated for development to provide five years' worth of housing in a local authority area, against the number of houses that government requires a local authority to build.
Councillor Charles Margetts (Conservative, Finchampstead North) said: “It’s in the countryside, it’s outside the settlement boundary in the 2010 and 2022 draft Local Plan, it’s also not in the Finchampstead Neighbourhood development plan.
“This is a site which does not comply with our planning policies, and a planning inspector has called unsustainable, which officers are recommending for approval.
“It would contribute five houses to the five-year land supply, for what?
“Five? Five hundred? Five!”
Cllr Margetts also complained that the planning department failed to consult neighbours, a claim that was rebuffed officer Taylor.
He added: “This council is meant to defend its residents rather than seek the most convenient way to push through favoured planning applications.”
Cllr Margetts finished with a call to defer the decision so the negotiations between neighbours and Bancroft Developments could take place.
Councillors ultimately agreed to defer their decision at the planning committee meeting on Wednesday, January 11, so that conditions relating to construction working hours and other issues could be addressed.
READ MORE: Finchampstead War Memorial relocation begins
The proposal to defer was made by committee member cllr Alistair Neal (Liberal Democrats, Hillside).
The plan involves Johnson Drive being widened to five metres to allow two cars to access the site at a time.
It is now expected that a decision will be made on the proposed development at the next committee meeting.
You can view the application by typing reference 223592 into the council’s planning portal.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here