Beaufort Park: Residents call for rethink after housing appeal decision

Plans by Southern Home Ownership for 221 homes were rejected by Bracknell Forest Council last year

Residents want a woodland site to be taken off a list of potential housing sites after inspectors upheld a decision to refuse a development.

Proposals by Southern Home Ownership for 221 homes at Beaufort Park in Crowthorne, Berkshire, were rejected by Bracknell Forest Council last year.

The planning inspectorate rejected an appeal, citing a "poor" road layout.

Residents want the site removed from the council's draft Local Plan, but this has been dismissed.

The council's planning committee rejected the scheme last year, raising concerns about parking, traffic congestion and blocked narrow roads.

Southern Home Ownership argued at an appeal hearing in June that it had provided enough space for parking.

'Overjoyed'

But planning inspector Rachel Pipkin ruled a "poor layout" of roads and an "under-provision" of spaces for the country park would cause "significant harm" to road safety.

Andy Holley, of the Crowthorne Village Action Group, said he was "overjoyed" at the inspector's decision and called for the area to be protected from future development.

"We can't see any reason why Bracknell Forest Council should include that in their Local Plan," he said.

But Councillor Guy Gillbe, member for planning and transport, said the inspector had only rejected the layout of the plans - not the idea that homes could be built there.

"The planning application appeal decision is one that focuses on a detailed scheme and did not challenge the principle of development...

"There is no intention to seek to remove this site from the draft Local Plan, which provides housing land for the next 15 years to meet the borough's housing needs," he added.