A plan to add 70 homes to a development at an old golf course on the outskirts of Reading has been submitted.
Earlier this year, embryonic plans surfaced for an extension to the Emmer Green Drive development off Kidmore End Road in Caversham.
Emmer Green Drive is currently under construction, and once complete will provide 223 homes to new occupants.
Now, the land acquisitions company Fairfax has submitted a plan to add 70 homes to the development, bringing the total number of homes provided to 293.
An illustrative master plan shows one paved road connecting it to the rest of the development, with a footpath link also being provided.
While the main development is situated entirely within Reading Borough Council’s jurisdiction, the land the extension would be built falls in South Oxfordshire.
Therefore, the application has been submitted to South Oxfordshire District Council’s planning department.
The application has been submitted on outline, with all matters being reserved except for access.
This gives the applicants flexibility to determine the precise details of the development in follow-up planning applications.
Despite that, the applicants are committed to making 40 per cent of the homes affordable.
A document written by Boyer Planning states: “The proposal includes the delivery of up to 42 market homes and up to 28 affordable homes (40 per cent), the delivery of a Biodiversity Net Gain significantly in excess of that required by the Environment Act, new areas of publicly accessible open space and provision of economic benefits in relation to construction of the development and longer-term spending and jobs.”
The document also cites a Freedom of Information (FOI) request submitted to South Oxfordshire council demonstrating the ‘current bedroom need’ for people on the council’s housing register.
At the time of the FOI, there were a total of 3,325 households requiring accommodation.
Of those, 1,910 required a one-bed flat, 757 required a two-bed property, 488 required a three-bed property, and 170 families required a four-bed home.
Specific details on the types of homes provided, along with the size of bedrooms and the number of car parking spaces provided could not be found in the planning documents submitted.
The illustrative master plan does show a mix of detached, semi-detached and terraced homes with spaces reserved for cars.
The application has been submitted by Fairfax alongside the landowners Reading Golf Club.
After securing outline permission for Emmer Green Drive in March 2022, Fairfax sold it to Vistry Thames Valley, a consortium of housebuilders including Bovis Homes, Linden Homes and the Abri housing association.
It is expected that a similar deal will be secured for the 70 homes extension if Fairfax achieves planning consent from South Oxfordshire council.
You can view the application by typing reference P25/S1431/O into the council’s planning portal.
Reading Borough Council is running an ‘adjacent authority consultation’ into the project, which can be found using reference PL/25/0731 on its planning website.
