Bloor Homes to host drop-in event at Newbury Rugby Club on March 15 to show residents its progress on 1,000 home Sandleford plans

A housing developer is hosting a drop-in event to update Newbury residents on its plans to build up to 1,000 new homes as part of the controversial Sandleford development.

Sandleford Park East was granted outline planning consent in 2022 when the Government overruled West Berkshire Council’s refusal of the scheme the previous year.

The large residential development – which was put forward by Bloor Homes – will see up to 1,000 homes, 80 extra care housing units, a primary school, a small shopping centre, a country park and more built on land south of Monks Lane and between the A343 and the A339.

Bloor Homes will be holding the community drop-in event at Newbury Rugby Club on Friday, March 15, between 4pm and 8pm, and it will give residents the chance to find out what work has been done since the plans were granted and what will happen in the future.

A Bloor Homes spokesperson said: “We are excited to meet local people to update on progress since the grant of outline consent and share our next steps.

“This is an informal update event, and we will be consulting in the future as the plans come forward.

“Sandleford Park East will deliver significant benefits, including the creation of a huge new country park for public use, which will celebrate the landscape and improve access to green space locally.

“We are committed to working with our neighbours and the wider community to ensure that we create the homes and environment that their family and friends want to call home.

“In the coming years, consultation with the local community on the detailed design will be key and we look forward to working with our neighbours and the wider community.”

Plans to build homes at Sandleford have been in the pipeline for more than a decade, ever since West Berkshire Council identified it as a preferred site for housing in 2010.

However, the site has long been mired in controversy and has been met with fierce opposition from campaigners over the years.

As well as Bloor Homes’ plans to build Sandleford Park East, Donnington New Homes submitted an application last July to build the 360-home Sandleford Park West, taking the total potential number of homes on the Sandleford site to nearly 1,500.

West Berkshire Council is yet to make a decision on the fate of the Donnington New Homes proposal.