A wildlife and allotment site in Tilehurst could be given extra protection from future housing following a long-running battle against development.
Neighbours and wildlife groups have been campaigning for patches of land at Kentwood Hill and Armour Hill to be protected, as wildlife such as foxes, badgers and birds have been seen in the area.
There have been fears that two sites which neighbour the Tilehurst allotments could be built on, which led to a spirited campaign from the Keep Kentwood Green group.
Now, a planning rule-making process could see those pieces of land protected from housing development.
Reading Borough Council is conducting a partial update into its Local Plan which was adopted in 2019.
The current Local Plan has designated a site at Kentwood Hill for between 41 and 62 homes, and a site at Armour Hill for between 12 and 18 homes, which are called policies WR3s and WR3t respectively.
As part of the Local Plan partial update process, it is suggested that both sites be incorporated into the Victoria Recreation Ground and Kentwood Hill Allotments area of Local Green Space.
Sites which are designated as Local Green Space are protected from development in planning policies.
The potential green space allocation has been supported by the Countryside Charity (CPRE).
Andy Smith from CPRE Berkshire said: “CPRE strongly supports the designation of these two adjoining pieces of land as Local Green Space in view of the wider site’s importance to the borough in terms of biodiversity and climate change mitigation, its proximity to the local community, its richness in wildlife, and its distinctive local character.
“In an urban area such as Reading, it is, in our submission, all the more important that green spaces are protected from development sprawl, for the sake of the health and wellbeing of the local community and the protection of local wildlife.
“We therefore urge the Council to remove this land from any development allocations in the Plan Update and recognise the entire site (including allotments and recreation ground) as one cohesive area of Local Green Space, as has been previously proposed.”
The prospect of Kentwood Hill and Armour Hill being built on has also been opposed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust, which conducted studies which prove the presence of badgers in the area.
Site owners Tilehurst People’s Local Charity ordered contractors onto the two sites to conduct surveying work in September 2022. It is believed the charity intends to sell the sites to a housing developer to generate income to fund its activities.
A public meeting was held in October 2022 to discuss the future of the sites, which representatives of the charity did not attend.
RBC held a consultation into suggested changes to the Local Plan which closed on January 31.
A final draft taking the consultation responses into account will be prepared for submission to the government planning inspectorate.
Once approved, changes contained within the Partial Update – such as the designation of the Tilehurst sites as green space – will be incorporated into the Local Plan.
