Following the public hearings involved with the examination of the draft Bracknell Forest Local Plan, the Inspectors have now submitted their findings.
The standout result is that Jealott’s Hill is to be removed from the draft.
The proposal had been to build 2,000 homes at the Syngenta site in the Green Belt, which would have provided a cross-subsidy for speculative employment floorspace.
The inspectors have found that the “exceptional circumstances” for removal from the Green Belt had not been met.
The response to the Council can be found here - https://www.bracknell-forest.gov.uk/planning-and-building-control/planning/planning-policy/emerging-bracknell-forest-local-plan/examination. The section on Jealott’s Hill is covered in paragraphs 18-42, which includes the following extracts:
“In sum, it would, of necessity, have a significant and unavoidable impact on openness and would result in a substantive encroachment into the Green Belt with an impact on a sensitive rural landscape” (PARA 28).
“Were the Garden Village allocation to be implemented, this would not guarantee the long-term future of the Syngenta site in Bracknell” (PARA 38).
“We are not persuaded that the location of the Garden Village would be such that irrespective of the innovative transport solutions proposed there would be a realistic choice of means of transport that would significantly reduce the need to travel by private car in this location” (PARA 40).
Both CPRE Berkshire and the London Green Belt Council actively opposed the proposal making representations at the public hearings.