Council approves Warren Road upgrade despite Sandleford concerns

The improvements, which will see the road widened to accommodate a pedestrian footpath, were given the green light by West Berkshire Council officers last week.
However the decision has been met with scepticism from Newbury Town Council and some local residents due to the fact that the applicant, Mark Norgate, is also one of the landowners and developers of Sandleford Park.
Mr Norgate also owns Newbury-based property developer Donnington New Homes, which could be responsible for building up to 500 homes as part of the
2,000-home Sandleford development.
However, Mr Norgate said his application for Warren Road was to improve residents’ safety and insisted
it was “not linked to any application that may be forthcoming over Sandleford” despite the road having been identified by the district council as a possible all-vehicle access route into Sandleford.
He added that any suggestion he was playing “some sort of game” by linking the Warren Road and Sandleford applications was “ridiculous”.
However, the plans to improve Warren Road were unanimously shot down at a Newbury Town Council meeting in October – with councillors claiming that it was “as clear as day” that the application was intended to provide better access to the development.
One local resident, Ian Dyke, said: “Overall there seems to be very little merit in this application, or compelling reason for it, other than providing a bus route, or all-traffic access for the Sandleford development by default.”
He added: “I am not aware of any final decisions having been made on Warren Road either becoming a bus route or all-traffic access to Sandleford Park.
“It would seem, therefore, totally inappropriate for these proposed improvements to take place until such decisions are made.”
In a statement, granting permission for the improvements, West Berkshire Council said: “Whilst representations received refer to the future development of the Sandleford site, this application must be determined on its merits and any increase in traffic and need for road improvements as a result of the development of Sandleford will be assessed when an application for that development is submitted.”
It added: “It is considered that the proposed works to Warren Road under consideration here would not prejudice the development of the Sandleford site or any further works that may be necessary as a result of an application for the development of the Sandleford site.”
The council also said that although the works were considered to change the character and appearance of the road itself, it is considered to be limited and outweighed by the public benefit of highway safety.
The proposal involves the widening of the road to 4.8m between Park Cottage and the entrance to New Warren Farm together with a 1.5m-wide footway on the north side of Warren Road to tie in with the existing footway on the east side of Andover Road that would terminate at a new crossing point beside Park Cottage.
A new 1.5m-wide footway would also be introduced on the southern side of Warren Road opposite Park Cottage and run eastwards to the junction of the access road leading to Lynwood House and Ashton House.
Tactile paving and dropped kerbs would be provided at the crossing between the new footways by Park Cottage. Bollards are also proposed at the junction to the existing public right of way and the road.
The council said that the application was not considered to be significantly different from the improvements previously agreed in 2009.
Earlier this year, as reported by the Newbury Weekly News, Mr Norgate wrote to Wash Common residents asking if they would be interested in selling their homes and land to assist with access into Sandleford, despite Warren Road not being confirmed as an access route and no formal planning application being submitted.