Feedback prompts changes to racecourse plans

Detailed plans have now been submitted for the first phase of the 12-year redevelopment project at Newbury Racecourse

DETAILED plans for the first phase of a 12-year redevelopment project at Newbury Racecourse have now been submitted to West Berkshire Council.

Following the granting of outline planning consent for up to 1,500 homes and a 120-bedroom hotel at the racecourse last year, developers David Wilson Homes Southern have now produced a reserved matters application for the western area of the site, detailing the appearance, layout, landscaping and scale of the plans.

A two-day public exhibition of the detailed plans was held in December last year and attracted a mixed reaction from local residents, but as a result of the feedback received, some changes have been made to the plans for the 15.5 acre Western Area C, which will comprise 422 new homes, including 111 affordable homes.

Managing director of David Wilson Homes Southern, Paul Crispin, said: “Local community involvement has been invaluable in helping us to fine tune our designs and we have incorporated as many ideas and requests as possible.

“Further discussions with Greenham Parish Council and West Berkshire Council's planning, housing, landscape and transport departments have also ensured our plans reflect the outcome of these conversations.”

One such change is a reduction in the density of private houses in Western Area C from 321 to 311, which will vary from one, two and three bedroom apartments and two-bedroom maisonettes to two, three, four and five-bedroom houses.

Houses have traditional red brick and pitched style roofs to reflect the vernacular, although some executive homes have been redesigned to offer a more modern style of architecture, while the ‘flat-over-garage' house style has been removed and hipped roofs have been introduced to create more varied street scenes.

Entrances have also been more clearly defined using villa style buildings to signify entry points, while green open spaces have been given a stronger identity within the scheme.

However, the chairman of Greenham Parish Council, Tony Forward, said there were still concerns over the height of some buildings particularly those facing on to Stroud Green, while he said he was also concerned about the lack of public access to Newbury Racecourse train station.

Concerns have also previously been expressed by local residents over access to the site, traffic generation, parking provision, pollution levels and the grouping together of affordable housing throughout the scheme, while Mr Forward said he had concerns over the phasing of the development and continued concerns over the timing of construction of a bridge over the railway line from Hambridge Road (see related stories link above).

David Wilson Homes has said no more than 250 homes in this first phase of work will be occupied until the planned new bridge is opened, while they have estimated that the western area will take about four to five years to complete on approval, depending on market conditions.

West Berkshire Council is due to make a decision on the plans in July.

For more on the plans, click on the link below.