Yesterday evening at the public planning meeting held at Little Heath School, West Berkshire councillors rejected developer Blue Living’s planning application to build 750 homes on Pincents Hill together with a significant amount of commercial space.



After the meeting Alok Sharma the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Reading West, who spoke at the meeting on behalf of the objectors, said: “I am absolutely delighted with this decision which is a victory for local democracy and a victory for all the local residents who objected to this development. West Berkshire Council deserves thanks for first omitting Pincents Hill as a strategic site from its core strategy and now rejecting Blue Living’s application. All of us opposed to this development also owe a huge debt of gratitude to the Save Calcot Action Group, so ably lead by Joan Lawrie, for all their hard work in opposing this development over the past 18 months.”



Alok continued: “There were very many valid planning reasons to reject this application and quite simply this was the wrong development, in the wrong place at the wrong time. Despite the unanimous rejection by members of the planning committee I am quite sure that Blue Living will not simply go away and are no doubt considering an appeal. We have won this battle, but we may only be at the start of the war against development on Pincents Hill and local residents need to be prepared to continue the fight.”



Councillor Joe Mooney who, together with fellow ward members Tony Linden and Emma Webster campaigned against this development, said: “As ward members we have been completely opposed to this development from the very start and so we are very pleased at the outcome for our local residents. If Blue Living do appeal this decision we will continue the fight on behalf of our residents.”