Residents against Shaw housing proposal to meet tonight

Under the proposals drawn up by Commercial Estates Group, approximately 87 acres of land to the north and west of Vodafone’s UK headquarters have been earmarked for development, with access coming from the Vodafone roundabout.
The proposal also sets out provision for a hotel, GP surgery, convenience store and a school.
Donnington Valley Action Group member Nick Harrison said: “The proposed development will double the size of Shaw-cum-Donnington, causing greater stress on local amenities, in that the A339 is the main artery through Newbury.
“When there is an issue on the M4 and A34 or the races this road already becomes gridlocked.
“We are concerned about what happens to the existing school, and the additional traffic that all these homes will generate.
“Trying to shoe-horn buildings into an inappropriate site is going to create more problems than it solves. Besides, where are the hundreds of local jobs for these people supposedly coming from?”
The group was formed after nearly 200 people attended a public consultation in November. The main issues raised were congestion in Newbury, school provision and flooding.
At a recent meeting of Newbury Town Council’s planning and highways committee, the director of residential development at Turley Associates, Peter Stacey, said that the site was identified in the strategic housing land availability assessment document published last week.
He explained that a traffic survey was under way to assess the impact of 700 homes – as the site was potentially large enough for more than the proposed 500 – and that there was no intention for vehicle access off Love Lane.
“We’re trying to incorporate [the Vodafone bus service] as it’s not being used as much as some people would like to see.
“We’re looking at making it a public service and we’re engaging with Vodafone at the moment. It makes more sense to have one service rather than two.”
He added that if the school was built a lay-by would be considered off Love Lane for parents to drop off pupils.
Mr Stacey said that vehicle access to Donnington was not being considered at this stage.
Campaigners will be holding their first meeting in the Castle School at 7pm tonight (Thursday) and for more information, visit www.dvag.org.uk
The developers plan to hold another consultation event with more detailed plans in March. Updates can be found at www.northnewbury.co.uk