West Berkshire Council are reviewing their Local Plan. This plan will, when approved by a government inspector, specify where major housing and employment developments should go. It will also specify policies to control planning applications. It will cover the years 2022 to 2039 but will have to be reviewed every five years under government rules.

The council did a public consultation on the version of the plan to be submitted to the inspector. This consultation closed on 3rd March 2023. The plan can be accessed by clicking here.

The council is proposing a to allocate the following development sites in Theale:

• 40 homes on Whitehart Meadow. Whitehart Meadow is the area of land between the Woodfield Way estate and the M4. You can see a map showing this site and more information about it by clicking here.
• 60 homes on the site of the old Theale sewage works. This would be off the end of Blossom Lane. You can see a map showing this site and more information about it by clicking here.
• The previous proposal to allocate land for 20,000 square metres of new office space on the field next to M4 Junction 12 (between Hoad Way and the M4) has been dropped.

The plan also proposes to expand the rail-road transfer site off Wigmore Lane (that currently includes aggregate depots, an oil depot, an asphalt plant and concrete batching plants) to include the old builder's yard at the end of the lane.

The council is also proposing to allocate a major housing site of 1,500 homes on this side of Thatcham

Both the housing sites in Theale were proposed the last time the local plan was reviewed, but were rejected after consultation.

I have set out my concerns about how the plan affects Theale here. I have also written a response to the consultation that can be viewed here.

The council will collate responses to the consultation and include those with the plan when submitting it to the Secretary of State. A planning inspector will then examine the plan for “soundness”.

Home Concerns Whitehart Meadow Old Sewage Works