Firlands Farm development case dropped
A HIGH Court case, lodged after plans for a leisure and retail hub were not incorporated into the district council’s planning policy, has been dropped.
TA Saunders Trustees proposed plans for a 2,879m sq supermarket, 60- bed care home, pub, nursery, five two-bedroom apartments and 465 sq m of retail space on land north east of Firlands Farm, Hollybush Lane, in Burghfield Common in 2012.
It launched a legal battle against West Berkshire Council through the High Court, when the plans were not incorporated into its core strategy – a planning document which outlines proposals to build at least 10,500 new homes in the district by 2026.
Represented by Henry Davidson Developments Burghfield Common Limited, the developers had previously challenged the strategy via a planning appeal but the council’s planning policy was approved as sound.
Business owner Diane Otton, who owns Sharisse Hair Fashions on Clayhill Road, Burghfield Common, said she was pleased that the risk of the Firlands development had, for the moment, subsided. “I was really concerned that more retail shops were going to go up,” she said.
“Business is hard, everybody is struggling and if more units go up in the village it’s going to make it harder.
“If we had another supermarket in the village it would have a detrimental effect on all the retail area.
“People want to live in a village, they don’t want to live in a town – if they did they would move to Reading.
“There are enough shops and the school, we don’t need anything else.”
She added further concerns for the impact further development would have on traffic levels as it is situated less than half-a-mile from Mrs Bland’s Infant School, School Lane.
West Berkshire executive councillor for planning Hilary Cole (Con, Chieveley) said: “This is good news for the residents of West Berkshire, as the council no longer has to mount a costly defence to a strategy that was approved not only by local people but endorsed by the Planning Inspectorate.”
A spokeswoman for the council, Peta Stoddart-Crompton, said that the council was not expecting any further action from Henry Davidson Developments Burghfield Common Limited in the near future.
She added that before any new retail developments were given the go-ahead, the council would consult with the local community to explore whether or how the services and facilities of Burghfield Common needed to be improved.
Henry Davidson Developments Burghfield Common Limited had failed to respond to the Newbury Weekly News at the time of going to press,