Kintbury homes plan ruffles feathers

Cambridge-based property developer Endurance Estates has put in an official pre-planning application to West Berkshire Council, stating its desire to build between 50 and 199 new dwellings on a 3.1 hectare piece of land north of Irish Hill Road.
The parcel of agricultural land, situated on the northern edge of the village, is set in the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
The chairman of Kintbury Parish Council, Stephen Cook, said: “They came to our parish council meeting recently and when we asked them how many houses they were intending to build they said somewhere between 50 and 80, not 50 and 199.
“From a parish council point of view, we do not think it is viable and we do not want to see that amount of new houses in Kintbury.
“We know that the roads cannot cope with it and we are the ones who will have to deal with the aftermath. The village is going to get nothing out of it, it can only be punishment for Kintbury and I cannot see any gain for us whatsoever.
“It would be devastating for the village and would, I feel, have an adverse effect. It has certainly ruffled a few feathers.”
If plans were to be approved, there would be vehicular and pedestrian access to the site from Newbury Street, in broadly the south-western corner of the site frontage and pedestrian/ cycle access and emergency vehicle access from Irish Hill Road.
The developer claims that surveys have shown low levels of traffic on nearby roads adding that it is confident the local road network would cope – something that Mr Cook described as a “ridiculous comment”.
It added that the site would be a “small extension” to Kintbury and that it would help West Berkshire meet its housing needs as set out in the council’s core strategy, which aims to provide 10,500 new homes in the district by 2026.
The developer plans to undertake further detailed technical work and embark on a programme of community consultation with a view to submitting a planning application in the summer of 2014.
Kintbury, with its shops including a convenience store and a butchers, a primary school, a doctors surgery, three public houses and a village hall, was was recently voted the best village to live in outside London, in a Daily Telegraph article.