Sandford Farm - Latest

The Appeal on the Hicks Persimmon application for 250 houses at Sandford Farm, together with excavating the site and moving the buried rubbish to Lea Farm, has been heard, and we await the result.

Meanwhile, you may have seen the fluorescent planning notices in the Whistley Green area, or the recent item in the Twyford Times, heralding an outline application to build a training centre including hotel, health and leisure centre at Sandford Farm! The applicants are The Oracle Corporation, a computer company with its headquarters in the District, who wish to build a training centre with residential facilities for up to 250 people. The plans show the training centre between the Old River and the Woodley Airfield estate, with open space between the Old and New Rivers, linking with the existing riverside footpath on the Hurst side of the river - this latter will be open to the public.

They claim that for a development of this nature it is practical to seal off the landfill cells, and introduce gas control and venting systems and a leachate management system to protect ground and surface water quality. In other words, there would be no need to excavate the waste and transport it to Lea Farm.

If you are interested in further details, the file is available for public inspection at the WDC Planning Department at Shute End, and the application number is 99/69524/0. Do let me know if you have any views on this.

Guess what - now that the application to build a house on the plot of land to the north-east of Barleycorn has been allowed at Appeal, there is a new application to build another one to the south-west. Surprise, surprise!

John Lemon