Call for action by Thatcham Lower Way field campaigners

No environmental impact test for potential housing site next to nature reserve

RESIDENTS campaigning to save the Lower Way field from housing have called for action after developers were not required to carry out an environmental assessment for their scheme.

The field was identified as a preferred option for new homes in the town by West Berkshire Council last year.

It said the site could accommodate up to 87 houses but campaigners and residents fear that the total number of homes could be higher.

Developer Persimmon Homes Thames Valley has expressed an interest in building on the field.

The field forms part of the Thatcham Moors Nature Reserve and is located next to the Nature Discovery Centre but the council has said that an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is not required.

The assessments are used to help planners weigh up the positive and negative impact of developments on the environment when deciding whether to proceed with a project.

In a letter to Persimmon Homes Thames Valley, development control manager at West Berkshire Council, Gary Rayner, said the council “did not consider the proposed development likely to have significant effects on the environment”, meaning an assessment was not required.

He said this was because the proposed development was less than 150 properties and was not located in a sensitive area in terms of environmental regulations.

He added, however, that the lack of an assessment should not be taken as preventing the council from concluding that the development would have environmental impacts.

Thatcham town councillor Jeff Brooks (Lib Dem, Thatcham West) said he hoped that Thatcham’s district councillors would press for an assessment to be carried out.

“Thatcham Flood Forum and BBOWT have said this will harm the local environment so how can it not have an EIA?” he said.

“We will be asking to overturn that and insist we have one. If they don’t it will be a dereliction of duty.

“It’s a sensitive issue and the public should expect that to take place.”

Resident and member of the Lower Way field working party, Brian Ruddock, asked how the environmental impact would be assessed if not through an EIA; adding that numerous environmental agencies had objected to building on the field.

However, he said the larger issue was the council not publishing a consultation of shortlisted housing sites for the district.

“The developer is allowed to follow a time-scale but the public are still waiting to know what’s going to be published in the [shortlisted sites] consultation,” he said.

Strategic land director of Persimmon Homes Thames Valley, Ruth Hopkins, said: “The screening submission made by Persimmon Homes precedes any formal planning application and the information contained in the submission will also be put forward when the final application is made.”