'Grave concerns' over highway safety after 15 homes scheme in Headley submitted

A parish council has said there are “grave concerns” over safety after developers put in plans to build 15 homes in Headley.

As reported in the Newbury Weekly News, Willowcrest Homes has submitted plans to build the homes near the old sawmill site off the A339, next to a site where nine houses have already been approved.

These nine homes are now in the process of being built, and the developer is keen to expand on the development – despite having a planning application for nine homes on the same site rejected by the borough council last year.

Ashford Hill with Headley Parish Council has now objected to the plans, saying they would “significantly change the look, characteristic and population of Headley” and would “add nothing to the characteristics of this ancient village”.

It continued: “The junction between the A339 and the lane has poor visibility.

“This factor and the speed of traffic on the A339 has led to a number of accidents (and near misses) over a long period and there is significant concern that any increase in traffic volumes will exacerbate the situation significantly.

“There have been three accidents within close proximity to the access, two of which were serious and one was slight and one of the serious collisions was directly at the access point.

“There are grave safety concerns on this section of the road.”

It added that there was a lack of amenities for future residents, with residents needing private transport to use other facilities located in Kingsclere or Newbury.

Willowcrest Homes said the new, larger scheme would help to meet the council’s housing market assessment, and should be given the go-ahead due to the borough council’s lack of a five-year housing land supply.

The application will now go to the borough council for consideration, which is under pressure by central Government to build 17,820 more homes by 2039.

The council has twice objected to the Government over this allocation, criticising the methodology behind it.

To view this application, go to the council’s planning portal and enter the reference 21/03656/FUL.