Development of Field North of Irish Hill, Kintbury

The request was successful.

Maura Livingstone

Dear West Berkshire Council,

Re: Field in Kintbury - North of Irish Hill Road (KIN0004 - SHLAA 2013)

Kintbury Parish Council received a presentation re the development of such field from developers on 8 May 2014. The developers tried to persuade the audience that the development of this field (60 to 80 houses) was inevitable.

Reports from local members of the public state that contractors are working in the field (investigating 'soakaways'); and they have been advised by such contractors work that the work is in preparation for housing to be built on the field.

A roundabout has been put in place recently next to the field. This would facilitate traffic management from the field. It is of great concern how the village will be able to support such traffic.

The Core Strategy (Area Delivery Plan Policy 5) states that "The North Wessex Downs AONB will have appropriate and sustainable growth that conserves and enhances its special landscape qualities. During the Core Strategy period provision will be made for the delivery of up to 2,000 dwellings, of which over half have already been built or have planning permission. Provision of this scale of housing is subject to the overarching objective for the AONB set out at the beginning of this policy. If preparation of the Site Allocations and Delivery DPD indicates that there are insufficient developable sites to provide the balance of the 2,000 dwellings whilst adhering to the landscape priority of the policy, any shortfall will be provided on sites allocated outside the AONB."

This field is identified as "Potentially Developable" in the SHLAA 2013. There are plenty of Deliverable and Developable sites available (in Newbury, Thatcham, Theale etc) as indicated in the SHLAA 2013 that can meet and exceed West Berkshire's 10,500 units of housing requirements.

The wording in the Core Strategy is clear and the SHLAA also shows that there isn't a need to build in this field (at least to meet the 10,500 unit requirement). Given the above points, it is surprising that time, money and effort is currently being expended by the owner/developers in preparation for development, if it is not imminent.

Question:

Has the council been involved in any discussions in relation to the development of this field, with any parties interested in developing this field, within the last 2 years? If so, please provide any documentation associated with these discussions.

Yours faithfully,

Maura Livingstone

Sue Broughton, West Berkshire Council

FoI/2014/548

Dear Mrs Livingstone

Request for information: Pre-planning discussions

Thank you for your request which is being treated as a request under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004. We will seek to respond within twenty working days (by 12th June).

Yours sincerely

Sue Broughton
Information Management Officer
Please note that I work part time and messages may not be answered until I am next in the office. 
  Strategic Support West Berkshire Council, Council Offices, Market Street, Newbury RG14 5LD
Email:  [email address]
 01635 519747 (external)         2747 (internal)      
You should be aware that all emails received and sent by this Council are subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and therefore may be disclosed to a third party.
Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail

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Sue Broughton, West Berkshire Council

10 Attachments

FoI/2014/548

Dear Mrs Livingstone

Request for information: Pre-planning discussions

I have now obtained the information requested and this is attached (I am sending the information via two or three emails as the email system will not accept all the attachments at once). Please note that copyright subsists with the owner of the documents and they may not be re-used for commercial purposes without permission.

If you are dissatisfied with our response, you may ask for an internal review. Please explain fully your reasons for requesting a review. You should contact David Lowe, Scrutiny & Partnerships Manager, Strategic Support, Council Offices, Market Street, Newbury RG14 5LD, email [email address] within forty working days if you wish to request a review. If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:
Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF
www.ico.gov.uk


Yours sincerely

Sue Broughton
Information Management Officer
Please note that I work part time and messages may not be answered until I am next in the office. 
  Strategic Support West Berkshire Council, Council Offices, Market Street, Newbury RG14 5LD
Email:  [email address]
 01635 519747 (external)         2747 (internal)      
You should be aware that all emails received and sent by this Council are subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and therefore may be disclosed to a third party.
Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail

show quoted sections

Sue Broughton, West Berkshire Council

12 Attachments

FoI/2014/548

Dear Mrs Livingstone

Request for information: Pre-planning discussions

Please find attached the remaining tranche of documents.

Yours sincerely

Sue Broughton
Information Management Officer
Please note that I work part time and messages may not be answered until I am next in the office. 
  Strategic Support West Berkshire Council, Council Offices, Market Street, Newbury RG14 5LD
Email:  [email address]
 01635 519747 (external)         2747 (internal)      
You should be aware that all emails received and sent by this Council are subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and therefore may be disclosed to a third party.
Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail

show quoted sections

Sue Broughton, West Berkshire Council

10 Attachments

FoI/2014/548

Dear Mrs Livingstone

Request for information: Pre-planning discussions

Please find attached the second tranche of documents.

Yours sincerely

Sue Broughton
Information Management Officer
Please note that I work part time and messages may not be answered until I am next in the office. 
  Strategic Support West Berkshire Council, Council Offices, Market Street, Newbury RG14 5LD
Email:  [email address]
 01635 519747 (external)         2747 (internal)      
You should be aware that all emails received and sent by this Council are subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and therefore may be disclosed to a third party.
Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail

show quoted sections

Maura Livingstone

Dear Sue Broughton,

Thank you for providing me with the information that I requested.

Yours sincerely,

Maura Livingstone