A campaign group battling against plans to build hundreds of homes at the old Reading Golf Club site has unveiled its own blueprint for the site.
The owners of Reading Golf Club – which recently moved to Caversham Heath – have submitted plans to build 258 homes on the former golf course to swathes of opposition.
More than 3,000 people have opposed the plans, spearheaded by criticism from campaigners Keep Emmer Green (KEG), with concerns including loss of green space and increased traffic congestion and pollution.
READ MORE: Reading Golf Club building plan met with thousands of objections
KEG has now unveiled its own alternative proposal, which would see 100 acres of land turned into an Arboretum – a haven and showcase of trees and shrubs – as well as a café, outdoor theatre, playground, miles of new public rights of way and more.
The campaign group said: “The closure of Reading Golf Club offers the people of Reading a fantastic opportunity to make environmental provision for the future of the town.
“We have released our own vision of what that might look like.”
KEG says an Arboretum has not been created in Berkshire in more than 100 years and would benefit “many thousands of residents both now and into the future”.
The proposals has been slammed by Reading Golf Club as “desperate and misleading”.
A Reading Golf Club spokesman said: “This ‘plan’ presented by Keep Emmer Green is nothing more than yet another desperate and misleading attempt to muddy the waters of the debate about the future of our private Emmer Green land.
“We have spent years working closely with Reading Borough Council to develop a sustainable plan for the future of our land at Emmer Green, which will create family and affordable homes with gardens, publicly accessible open Space, a medical centre and a wonderful new recreational facility.
“We look forward to continuing our discussions with Reading Borough Council in the days and weeks ahead and are very confident that our plans will bring real benefit to Reading.”
READ MORE: Elections candidates speak out on controversial Reading Golf Club plans
Responding, a spokesman for KEG said: “We wanted to propose a positive vision on what could be achieved by working with the community rather than against the community.
“As RGC’s comments demonstrate, they still have no interest in talking to local residents, despite the overwhelmingly positive feedback that KEG’s proposals have already received, which is unfortunate but not unexpected.”
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