Alok Sharma, Member of Parliament for Reading West, has welcomed the decision of West Berkshire Council’s Eastern Area Planning Committee to refuse a planning application for 165 dwellings on Pincents Hill.
Alok has been campaigning to protect the Pincents Hill site since before he was elected as the Member of Parliament for Reading West in 2010 and has always been supportive of retaining Pincents Hill as a community amenity.
In 2009, developer Blue Living submitted a formal planning application to build 750 new homes and commercial units on the Pincents Hill site. This was rejected following a campaign by the Save Calcot Action Group and local residents, which Alok supported.
Subsequently, in 2014 agents acting for the owners of Pincents Hill put the site forward for inclusion in West Berkshire Council’s Housing Site Allocations Development Plan Document (DPD), suggesting that the site could take between 225 and 300 homes. Again, with the support of local residents and District Councillors, it was ensured that Pincents Hill was not included in the DPD.
However, in the summer of 2018, a fresh attempt was made to consider development on Pincents Hill by the site’s owner, U+I plc, which along with its advisor, TOWN.
In response to the proposals, Alok launched a residents’ survey in October 2018 to gauge local reaction to the plans. The survey was delivered to homes in the Pincents Hill area and Alok received over 700 responses. The results demonstrated a continued opposition to building on the site, with specific concerns including the timely availability of GP services and school places, congestion on local roads such as the A4 and the impact on the local environment.
In early 2019, U+I and TOWN submitted a planning application for the Pincents Hill site, application ref: 19/00113/OUTMAJ. Alok formally objected to this application and amended plans in February 2020, February 2021 and October 2021, and regularly wrote to the respondents of his survey to encourage local residents to formally register their views with West Berkshire Council as part of their consultation on the application. There was also a huge campaign headed by the Combined Save Pincents Hill and Save Calcot Action Groups, that worked tirelessly to spread the word about the application amongst local residents.
Subsequently, in December 2021, Alok wrote to the Rt Hon Michael Gove MP, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities, to request a Call-In of the application because of local views that the granting of planning permission would be contrary to some of West Berkshire Council’s own planning policies, as well as the National Planning Policy Framework.
The planning application was then scheduled to be heard by West Berkshire Council’s Eastern Area Planning Committee on Wednesday 19 January. Alok spoke at the Committee, voicing his continued concerns about the application. Representatives from Tilehurst Parish Council, Holybrook Parish Council, and the Combined Save Pincents Hill and Save Calcot Action Group also spoke in opposition to the planning application, along with local residents and West Berkshire Councillors for Tilehurst Birch Copse ward, Jo Stewart and Tony Linden.
After 3 hours of discussion, members of West Berkshire Council’s Eastern Area Planning Committee unanimously voted to refuse the application. Alok has also received confirmation from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities that no further action needs to be taken in respect to the Call-In request, given that the planning application has been refused.
Alok Sharma said:
“I have been campaigning to protect the Pincents Hill since before I was elected as the Member of Parliament for Reading West in 2010 and I know just how much local people care about this site.”
Alok continued:
“I want to pay tribute to West Berkshire Councillors Jo Stewart and Tony Linden, the parish councils and all the local residents, especially the Chair of the combined Save Pincents Hill and Save Calcot Action Groups, Joan Lawrie, who have worked so hard and with such great determination to oppose this planning application. I am delighted that local voices were heard loud and clear – a clear victory for localism!”
The Save Pincents Hill Committee said:
“We are greatly relieved at the outcome and very grateful to all those people who supported the campaign to save the hill from development. A debt of gratitude to our MP who has been there for us over the past (now some 15 years even before his MP membership), we cannot begin to thank him and his staff enough for their help. The Eastern Area Planning Committee gave well-reasoned decision that at times the access to the proposed development would be constrained and the fact that at-the-moment this land still is a gap between settlements, they unanimously rejected the planning application.”
West Berkshire Councillor for Tilehurst Birch Copse ward, Jo Stewart said:
“Cllr Tony Linden and I are absolutely thrilled at the decision made by members of the Eastern Area Planning Committee on Wednesday night in refusing the application to build up to 165 dwellings on Pincents Hill. This is an amazing example of the community coming together to act against a proposed development they feel will impact adversely on the area in which they live and work, as well as a wonderful natural green space which improves their health and wellbeing. A stunning result.”