New altered plans to build hundreds of homes at Reading Golf Club slammed

The application sent to the council to build 257 homes at Reading Golf Club in Emmer Green comes after a very similar plan for 260 homes was withdrawn in December 20 following more than 2,000 objections.

Campaign group Keep Emmer Green (KEG), a local resident and the local MP have all criticised Reading Golf Club for withdrawing and now submitting a plan with just three homes less than the last application.

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KEG press spokesman Julian Ansell said: “The revised plan bears remarkable similarity to the original submission.

“The new application makes no changes whatsoever to the objections raised by residents and community groups to the original plan.

“The traffic congestion and pollution will continue to increase, school places will be at a premium and the pressure on doctors' surgeries will be untenable.

“In short, the health and welfare of adults and children alike will continue to be threatened.

“KEG will be strongly opposing this unwelcome and unnecessary application which, if approved, would result in the loss of precious green space and be detrimental to the community as a whole.”

The other changes to the plan include a reduction in the area of public space to 3.51 hectares from 3.57 hecates and four more trees being cut down.

Reading Golf Club will move permanently to Caversham Heath Golf Club in less than two months.

Gary Stangoe, Reading Golf Club General Manager, said the club re-submitted the plans following consultation with Reading Borough Council (RBC) and other local stakeholders late last year, making some small technical changes “to take into account the observations received”.

He said the club “remains determined to leave a lasting legacy on its land for the benefit of the communities of Emmer Green and beyond”.

And he said development will bring much-needed family homes with gardens in the north of Reading, a new medical facility in Emmer Green and public access to land north of Cucumber Wood for the time in more than 100 years.

The public space will include open space, footpaths, cycleways, allotments and leisure facilities such as foot golf, disc golf and a café.

Resident Jane Lawson slammed the golf club for what she called an “opportunistic tactic to undermine the unequivocal message already delivered to our council”.

She said the application being considered as a new one is a  “a devastating blow” for the community during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ms Lawson said the council has a “moral responsibility” to halt the application until after the lockdown is lifted to “provide a duty of care to their constituents at this time, acknowledging the mental health struggles and financial hardship that many are battling with”.

And she said the 2000 objections already submitted should be carried over unless those same objectors – having read the revised planning statement – consider the changes are sufficient to retract their objections.

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Meanwhile, Reading East MP Matt Rodda said he is “still deeply concerned” about the plans, which he believes will lead to “significant traffic problems” and more air pollution, and called for a “complete rethink”.

A spokesman for the council said RBC has “absolutely no control over when an application is either withdrawn or submitted” and is required to process valid applications within statutory timeframes.

The spokesman said the council cannot carry over comments from previous applications but residents can repeat their previous comments and include the new planning application number (210018).

RBC has extended the window for public comments to six weeks give the “great deal” of public interest in the application.

The closing date for comments is March 18th. People can submit comments by emailing Golfclubcomments.planning@reading.gov.uk or via the Council’s planning portal (http://planning.reading.gov.uk/fastweb_PL/welcome.asp).