This site is Wood Lane, which is off School Road. Â It is a full application for the phased redevelopment, change of use of the site to a mixed use contractors yard with storage buildings, office and residential, following demolition of existing stables and storage buildings and the existing bungalow to also include enhanced boundary landscaping.
The applicant is Instalcom which is a Civil Engineering and Utilities contractor. They say they are establishing new premises in Berkshire to help facilitate a large scale Fibre Optic contract in the area.
As it is a significant industrial development we wanted to give Barkham residents the chance to comment to WBC. There have been previous applications and at least one Enforcement Order on this site over the past few years but this is a new company making an application.Â
The closing date for comments is 20 January 2021. The application can be viewed via this link: https://planning.wokingham.gov.uk/FastWebPL/detail.asp?AltRef=203326&ApplicationNumber=203326&AddressPrefix=&Postcode=&KeywordSearch=&Submit=Search
The applicant states “The application will be for the complete redevelopment and change of use of the land, which presently comprises a single dwelling, specific lawful storage uses in some buildings and unlawful storage in others and across the site. The proposed use will include offices for the Instalcom staff, a retained residential unit, and consolidated storage as a contractor’s yard – facilitating the demolition of the range of ramshackle storage buildings presently across the site.”
There is a lot of documentation on the planning portal but the main issues for residents seem to be the impact on the rural character of a countryside location and associated safety concerns.
Other key points to consider are:
- The only lawful use of the site so far is storage in and around a range of sheds, as defined in Certificate CLE/2010/1528
- All existing buildings would be removed and replaced with offices and other buildings covering a larger total footprint and being more than twice as high
- The site would be occupied by a company dealing with fibre optic installations (not very rural) and running several HGVs
- They regularly have pipe deliveries on a 40ft articulated lorry which would have to turn in and out of single track Wood Lane from the not very wide School Road
- Wood Lane is used by pedestrians, horse-riders and cyclists to access the Coombes. HGVs and industrialisation would not enhance the countryside experience.
Our thanks go to a Barkham resident for bringing this to our attention and providing input
Kind Regards
BVRA |
