Sandleford an ‘urban sprawl’ says countryside campaigners
West Berkshire countryside campaigners say the decision by the district council to permit a development of 360 houses in Newbury amounts to “urban sprawl ruining this rural area”.
The Berkshire branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) wrote to West Berkshire Council last year opposing the planning application by Donnington New Homes for 360 houses at New Warren Farm, Sandleford.
CPRE Berkshire chairman Greg Wilkinson said the group was “very dismayed” by the council’s decision.
“The area earmarked for development is close to the environmentally sensitive landscape of Watership Down, made famous by local author Richard Adams, and Adams wrote about it in his book,” Mr Wilkinson added.
“In his novel Watership Down, Sandleford Warren was the very area that was threatened with destruction by developers in the opening chapter.
“That development provided the main storyline for the novel and for the two film adaptations in 1978 and 2018.
“In later years, when that threat became real, Adams also campaigned against housing development on this site, now known as ‘Sandleford Park West’.
“So it is extremely sad that this very site, which is so iconic, is now to be bulldozed and concreted over. A terrible example of fiction becoming reality.”
Plans for the site raised more than a hundred objections from the public.
Newbury Town Council also unanimously voted down the scheme for Sandleford.
The approved plans mean all the extra traffic, despite minor access changes, will join the Andover Road by Park House School.
The planning inspector allowed another, larger development of more than a thousand homes from Bloor Homes to go ahead last year, after it had been refused by West Berkshire Council, citing the need for more housing supply.
The latest application from Donnington New Homes sits to the west of that site, with access along Warren Road and there are plans to broaden Warren Road to six metres wide.
Mr Wilkinson added: “This housing scheme, coupled with developments on the Hampshire side of the border, shows that this rural area, near to the North Wessex Downs National Landscape, is coming under growing threat from developers who care nothing for our natural environment, rural tranquillity, or wildlife.
“It means the whole area is in danger of becoming economically overheated while lacking essential public services and infrastructure.
“At a time when we need a more sustainable approach to development, it seems that we are going to get yet more car-dependent housing estates with families having to drive in order to access services.”
