Further Comments for the Arborfield Garrison Landowners Consortium Planning Application

General comments

• The planning application is premature as the route for the Arborfield Bypass has not been agreed and this will impact on the Traffic Assessment.
• It is not clear when the Army will be vacating the entire site. Development should start on the brownfields ‘behind the wire’ and not on farmland, as is proposed in the Planning Application.
• WBC should not approve the Planning Application unless it is entirely satisfied the Applicant has proved that ‘nil detriment’ is achieved on all roads, as per the Core Strategy.
• WBC’s Core Strategy has been justified and pushed through by Councillors, despite significant opposition from residents, on the basis the landowners and developers will have to pay a much larger contribution towards the necessary infrastructure than would be the case with smaller developments.  The contribution to be paid by AGLC has yet to be agreed. Councillors must now deliver on this promise.

Phasing: Greenfield v Brownfield

The very first phase of the development (1a) cuts right through open farmland. There is no reason why Sheerlands Road can’t be used initially to provide access for construction traffic to the new District Centre. Development should start on brownfield areas, behind the wire and when the Army have physically left the Garrison.

Layout of District Centre

• The layout is based on town centres such as Hungerford, which is inappropriate for a village feel in a rural setting. In particular, traffic lights at the main district centre junction give the area an urban feel.
• It is not desirable to have the food store as a prominent feature of the district centre and this is not in keeping with a village feel or the Garden City concept.
• The design statement promotes an enclosed public space.  More of the community facilities and shops should face the ‘village green’.

Density and Height of buildings

The density and height of the proposed houses in the middle to high density areas is not in keeping with a village and is too urban for this location

Protected trees

It is essential to keep all protected trees to maintain the rural character of the area. It seems some protected trees will be lost because of the planned access road from the A327. The route should be looked at again to prevent the loss of these trees.

Location of secondary and primary schools

• The layout of the primary school and secondary school should be designed to ensure there are convenient drop off points which don’t block the main road. The design of the school buildings should be sympathetic to the rural character.
• It is not at all clear how children from Finchampstead will be able to get to the new secondary school other than by car.

SANG: The SANGS will not be easily accessed in the early phases of the development.

Traffic Assessment

• The traffic assessment is effectively invalid as it does not take into account the actual route of the Arborfield Bypass, which is yet to be announced by WBC.
• The document is filled with inaccuracies e.g. stating Nine Mile Ride passes through the village of Finchampstead.
• Trip rates seem unrealistic such as assuming 89% of the retail trips are internally generated and therefore only 11% of the supermarket customers will come from outside the development.
• A number of the proposed junction improvements involve using third party land
• Over half the proposed traffic improvements involve putting traffic lights at busy junctions.

Proposed junction changes:

Buses

The Planning Application talks about promoting sustainable transport modes. However:

• There is no new bus routes proposed e.g. express routes and so sustainable travel relies entirely on the 144 bus, which only goes to Wokingham and Reading.
• There are no proposals to increase the frequency of the 144 bus service in Phase 1 of the development.
• The bus service will have to operate on congested route into Reading.

Cycle routes/ Bridle ways: The idea of combining bridle ways and cycle routes is impractical in many cases and one metre is not a sufficient width for a bridle way and does not meet standards.