Twyford 2,500 home plan going ahead despite local plan snub

Berkeley Group has a plan to build 2,500 ‘low carbon’ homes on land to the east of Twyford.

The development has been called ‘Twyford Gardens’, and it would involve building new business space and community amenities, including shops, parks, a health centre, nursery and  primary school, and even a train station on the countryside.

An aerial visualisation of the proposals shows homes and people enjoying themselves in the development north of the railway track, with a nature park in the west and its new train station towards the east.

READ MORE: Prospect of 2,500 new homes for Twyford in doubt as site is left out of Local Plan update

If built, the station would host trains running to London Paddington, and could possibly be incorporated into the Elizabeth Line.

The plan is in its embryonic stages, with Berkeley Group gauging public opinion for the proposal ahead of it being officially submitted to Wokingham Borough Council at a later date.

But Berkeley’s designs for the area could be scuppered because the land it wants to build on currently forms part of the London Metropolitan Green Belt, which can only be built on in ‘exceptional circumstances’.

A CGI of Berkeley Group's proposed Twyford Gardens development, which would have its own train station, seen in the CGI. Credit: Berkeley Group

The likelihood of development taking place on the green belt can be improved if it gets redesignated into developable land in the local planning process.

The land was one of several sites considered for development in the Wokingham Local Plan Update, which was published last November and designates a series of sites which the borough council has allocated for homes to be built.

However, the land which the scheme would be built on was not chosen as one of the sites identified for development in the plan.

But that has not deterred Berkeley Group, which has urged residents of Wokingham Borough to give their views on the proposal in the Wokingham Local Plan Update consultation.

Residents have until 5pm on January 24 to respond to the consultation.

READ MORE: Wokingham Local Plan update: residents asked for views in consultation

A spokesperson for Berkeley said: “We welcome the opportunity to respond to the council’s Local Plan update consultation and the wider debate on the imbalance in growth and homebuilding between the north and south of the borough.

“Our proposals for a sustainable new neighbourhood to the east of Twyford, supported by new infrastructure and amenities, could help ease the development pressure in the south where all of the strategic development sites (including 4,500 homes now proposed in the Loddon Valley) are located.

“Over the last 10 years 97per cent of new homes have been built in the south of the borough, creating pressure on infrastructure as well as a significant shortage of new homes in the north.”

A CGI of Berkeley Group's proposed Twyford Gardens development. Credit: Berkeley Group

People can also give their views about the proposal on the dedicated Twyford Gardens website.

Berkeley has stated that 35 per cent of the new homes would be made available to local people through affordable housing schemes and would include a mix of affordable rented, key worker and shared ownership properties.

It added that the environment at Twyford Gardens would be enhanced by opening up wild space to the community, with green cycling and walking routes and a mix of parks, community gardens, allotments, sports pitches and playing fields.