Green light for 35 homes at preferred Pangbourne site

More than 70 objections ignored as application for 35 houses passed

PLANS to build homes on a preferred site in Pangbourne have been approved despite residents’ objections.

Councillors unanimously passed Pangbourne Beaver Properties’ hybrid application to build 35 homes, with access off Pangbourne Hill, at a recent meeting.

This was against more than 70 objections from residents citing traffic safety; the impact on local services; increased flood risk and the impact on the AONB.

The site was shortlisted as a preferred site for housing in West Berkshire Council’s draft housing sites allocation plan document (DPD) in 2014.

The council refused an application for the site in April 2015, saying that granting planning permission before the DPD had been formally adopted would be premature and would undermine its planning process.

But councillors heard at last week’s meeting that the DPD process had moved on significantly since then and that this weighed heavily in the development’s favour.

Resident Jim Dawson said that there had been a number of accidents on Pangbourne Hill and that the new access, combined with the gradient of the hill, would add to the problem.

However, senior highways officer Paul Goddard, said that council officers had ruled that the traffic impact was not considered to be severe.

Mr Dawson also said that residents had had their homes flooded with sewage on numerous occasions.

He argued that the sewers would not be able to cope with another 35 homes.

“How is it possible for an authority to approve a scheme that allows raw sewage in our homes?” he asked.

Planning officer Bob Dray said that Thames Water had not objected to the application but had asked that the developer submit a drainage plan before building on the site.

The deputy chairman of Pangbourne Parish Council, Dr Kevin Hawkins, said that the village school and doctors surgery were virtually full and that the site was not suitable.

But Graham Bridgeman (Con, Mortimer) said that sites in the DPD required moving the settlement boundary.

“Why should Pangbourne be excluded from that process?” he asked.

Dr Hawkins replied: “This site is not suitable for sustainable development.

“If you can find another site then go ahead but I don’t think there is one.”

Applicant Lance Flannigan said that his scheme would deliver much-needed housing in a location that the council had allocated as a suitable site.

The district councillor for Pangbourne, Pamela Bale (Con), was barred from voting because she said she had predetermined the application.

Mrs Bale surprised councillors, however, with a request to defer a decision and that a new plan with a reduced number of homes be submitted instead.

The suggestion included finding 14 affordable homes elsewhere in the village.

“This would go some way to meeting the DPD requirement and a long way to meeting concerns of affordable housing,” she said.

But Mrs Bale was told that councillors had to determine the application before them.

“The DPD policy is for 35 houses and given the significant weight we have given to that policy I don’t think there’s much option in that recommendation,” Mr Dray said.

Supporting the application Tim Metcalfe (Con, Purley-on-Thames) said: “We are where we are.

“The key to this is getting the best deal for Pangbourne.”