A secret plan to build hundreds of homes on playing fields in Reading have been blasted.

Recently, a speculative plan to build a total of 388 apartments on the Morgan Road Playing Fields in East Reading was revealed in a Freedom of Information (FOI) request.

The playing fields in Morgan Road are owned by Reading School, a state-funded grammar school for boys.

According to the site plan taken from the FOI the new housing would be split into 339 student flats and 49 ‘age-friendly’ apartments.’

Councillor David McElroy, who represents the area, has hit out the plan for not meeting the needs of residents and being ‘environmentally damaging’.

Cllr McElroy (Green, Redlands) said: “Despite the huge amount of brownfield space available developers have been repeatedly allowed to build on what little green open space remains in Reading.

“We need affordable housing more than anything, and while it is tempting to say that packing 300 students into tiny flats might take some pressure off local streets being overrun by HMOs [homes of multiple occupation], the idea that students will move from a cheap house share on Donnington Road to a new expensive block just isn’t realistic – this is more likely a greedy attempt to cram another 350+ people into expensive housing where services are already inadequate.

“And don’t get me started on the amount of traffic this will create in a space that is already congested – ambulances need to get through to the hospital swiftly.

“I hope it doesn’t come to a planning application down the line, as we’ve seen so many of those that are environmentally damaging and without proper affordable housing nodded through by a supine Labour Council.

“I urge the school, the council and everyone involved to think about what future generations of Reading children should inherit.

“Hopefully that will be decent affordable housing built on brownfields, not the expensive plastic grass favoured by this plan.”

The ‘plastic grass’ cllr McElroy referred to is the planned 3G astro-turf pitch, with the artificial grass being made of plastics.

The council does have a programme of redeveloping its brownfield sites into affordable housing, with recent examples being 49 flats at the Central Pool site and 21 homes being envisaged in Amethyst Lane.

However, Labour members on the council’s planning committee have been criticised for approving the 223 home development at Reading Golf Course – a greenfield site.

A communications company working on behalf of Reading School and Jansons Property called DevComms has since declared that the site plan revealed through the FOI is out of date.

While the plan for the 388 flats was submitted to the secretary of state for education, the scheme has evolved, with updated proposals set to be revealed in a possible pre-planning submission consultation.

Residents can get in touch with DevComms via 0800 080 3299 or readingschool@devcomms.co.uk.