2,500-home plan for Thatcham put on hold after change in Government planning law

PROPOSALS to build 2,500 homes in Thatcham have been left up in the air after a change in government planning laws.

West Berkshire Council had been targeting land from Floral Way to Colthrop Industrial Estate for the homes as part of its Local Plan Review and was preparing for an extraordinary council meeting in October when its preferred plan would be analysed and voted on.

It would then go to the planning inspectorate for an independent review.

However on July 20, the Government published an update to its National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) – the country’s overarching planning guidance – which will require ‘significant extensions’ to towns or villages to be the subject of a 30-year vision to factor in the potential timescale of the delivery.

As a result, the council – which had been looking at the next 15 years for its plan – has been forced to cancel its October meeting and re-evaluate its entire proposal.

The council’s planning policy manager Bryan Lyttle said: “This came out of the blue and it’s fundamental to where we’re going as a council.

“We’ll have to sit down, go through all our evidence base, go through what the Government is trying to propose, and then work out and re-profile the Local Plan accordingly.”

Interim chief executive Susan Halliwell said there needed to be more “clarity” from the Government on what a vision entails before they could proceed.

She said: “This is going to hamper all local authorities’ progress because you need clarity on exactly what it means before you can take it forward.

“We’re in a bit of a no man’s land until we get that clarity and fully understand the requirements of developing the vision statement.”

Council deputy leader Graham Bridgman (Con, Burghfield and Mortimer) said it was “unbelievably frustrating” that the local authority was ready to go and now had to pause.

The change could also have repercussions for Newbury.

A planning appeal for 1,000 homes on Sandleford Park is currently being analysed by the Planning Inspectorate.

If the council wins the appeal, Mr Lyttle said it would also have to consider the visioning exercise for Newbury as well as Thatcham.

West Berkshire Council is not the only council to be hit by the sudden change.

Horsham District Council in Sussex was set to hold its consultation meeting on July 21 and was forced to cancel it the day of the meeting, while Dacorum Borough Council in Hertfordshire also put the brakes on its Local Plan Review.

The announcement will be welcomed by Thatcham town councillors, who had been objecting to the proposals on the basis that West Berkshire Council was placing a development the size of Hungerford on the edge of Thatcham.

Although the scheme included plans for a new secondary school, two new primaries, a country park, and a leisure/retail offering, Liberal Democrat town councillors argued the infrastructure would only provide for the development itself and not the wider town.

Thatcham town councillor and Liberal Democrat opposition leader on West Berkshire Council Lee Dillon (Thatcham North East) said: “Any sizeable development should be supported by a long-term vision.

“I welcome the changes in the NPPF, however that still does not mean that any extension of this size is right for the town of Thatcham.

“The council will, I imagine, go and put a proposal, and the Lib Dems will still be batting for a fairer distribution of leases around West Berkshire.”