Opposition to Newbury lakeside chalet scheme

Councillors concerned about the impact of fishing stations

NEWBURY town councillors have strongly objected to plans to build 41 holiday chalets around a lake off Hambridge Road.

The proposals have been put forward by Pegasus Group, which said the chalets would be for recreational and holiday use only.

It added that it would form a retreat for angling use on Hambridge Lake.

Although the only matter to be considered at Monday’s Newbury Town Council planning and highways committee meeting was access to the potential site, councillors took the opportunity to strongly object to the entire proposal.

Of major concern to them was the impact of the proposed 48 fishing stations along the perimeter of the lake, with councillors unsatisfied by Pegasus’ lack of detail on plans for the lake itself.

Speaking to Pegasus planning consultant Jim Bailey, Gary Norman (Lib Dem, Wash Common) said: “I’m not concerned about the buildings themselves, I’m worried about what Pegasus will do to the lake and the ecology and environment.

“If you’re going to put 40-odd fishing points on the lake, where previously the local angling society said it wasn’t worth fishing, what are you going to do to the lake to make it worthwhile?

“This is the crux of the matter – if you’re turning a piece of ecology into a fishing lake by filling it with non-native or predatory species then it will affect everything else.

“If you’ve had no details about what you’re going to do with the lake for this development then that’s a big missing piece of information for us.”

Pegasus said that as the site lies in a biodiversity opportunity area, “priority was given to minimising the footprint of the development on the existing landscaping and to minimise the impact of parking and infrastructure as much as possible whilst still creating a feasible development”.

The group had said that the proposed development – which is at the junction of the A4 and Hambridge Road – would create 10 equivalent full-time jobs.

Councillor Nigel Foot (Lib Dem, West Fields) echoed Mr Norman’s concerns, stating: “I appreciate we’re considering access, but I think we ought to voice our strongest reservations about this development for many reasons.

“There are lots of places around Newbury and West Berkshire that anglers can fish. I don’t see why this lake has to be tailored to anglers.

“We also need to make absolutely clear that this is a very important sink, the ecological aspect is clear and it provides potential flooding relief for all the housing that’s already established around there, and I would be very strongly opposed to this development.”