DOZENS of homes given the go-ahead for building at a Wokingham business estate will include affordable housing — but this only comes after council bosses originally said no to cheaper homes at the site.
Planning chiefs said yes to initial proposals for 38 homes at Mulberry Business Park at a meeting on Wednesday, January 8.
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Before the decision was confirmed, however, it emerged Wokingham Borough Council (WBC) had opted for more than £700,000 in cash to spend on affordable houses elsewhere in the borough, rather than at the Fishponds Road site.
Councillor John Kaiser, WBC’s finance boss, explained: “Officers recommended that the affordable housing be provided via a contribution to affordable housing the council is building elsewhere reflecting the need on the housing waiting list.
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“Since this was agreed some 6 months ago, we have seen an increase of 96 per cent in the number of single people presenting as homeless to the council.
“As such, on reflection, the council has amended its view as this development is ideally suited to go some way to meeting this demand.
“In light of this, the planning committee asked officers to explore with the developer the possibility of providing the affordable housing on-site, as the committee thought the location close to the town centre, shops and leisure facilities as well as the train station made the location suitable for on-site affordable housing.”
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Officers are now in negotiations with the developer on this issue after an agent told councillors they were open to providing affordable housing instead of a commuted sum of £714,701.34.
Paul Smith, the agent presenting the plans, said developers had “worked hard to achieve good design for this sustainable proposal”.
However, Liberal Democrats councillor Sarah Kerr, who recently wrote an open letter to Wokingham MP Sir John Redwood about pushing for a change to permitted development laws, raised concerns about the availability of services around the area.
Permitted development laws allow office sites to be turned into housing and means developers do not have to fund supporting infrastructure.
She told the News: “That whole area was designed as a business area, not a residential area.
“Residents have told me they can’t get doctor’s appointments — that is not a planning consideration but it is relevant.
“The school built nearby is at capacity with the waiting list. There just are not the school places available for the number of children in the area.
“I think the negatives outweigh the positives.”
Sorbus House at Mulberry Business Park, where the 38 homes could go up, was previously occupied by offices but was damaged by fire before being demolished.
A four-storey flat building would house six one-bedroom homes and 32 two-bedroom homes with 59 car parking spaces.
The land is not a pre-approved site in the council's local plan but a report indicated “Upwards of 300 units are likely to be accommodated within the existing buildings on surrounding properties in the next three years.”
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