Agenda item

Recommendation:  Approval

Proposal:  Full planning application for the installation of vehicle overrun strips along the access road, formalisation of the existing car park and the construction of new car parks creating a total of 301 bays including disabled and public carrier vehicle bays, the removal of 73 trees and the planting of 85 trees, and erection of the tensile tent canopy adjacent to the Café, with associated  provision for  street furniture, lighting and landscaping, replacement of underground pumping station, upgrading of power supply with associated distribution boxes.

Applicant:  Wokingham Borough Council

The Committee received and reviewed a report about this application, set out in Agenda pages 91 to 110.

The Committee were advised that the Members’ Update included:

·         Amendment to the proposal description, to whit that the number of car park bays would be 311;

·         Amendments to the report regarding planting, car parking and opening hours;

·         Clarification as to the traffic surveys that had taken place;

·         Proposed additional condition relating to the tensile canopy;

·         Additional comments in objection to the proposal, and

·         Summary statements from an online petition.

Roland Cundy, Chair of Finchampstead Parish Council, spoke on the application.  Whilst he appreciated that the country parks must derive income to be self-financing, he asked what traffic calming measures were proposed and what steps were going to be taken with regard to minimising risk.  He also raised concerns regarding the impact of the application on the Scouts, stating that the scouting facility was in use six days per week and that it accommodated 200 young people with a further 100 on a waiting list.  He questioned the time it had taken to renew the lease.

James Cutler, Resident, questioned the level of consultation of neighbours, going on to suggest that there would be a rise in crime and litter and that the amenity value of the Park was under threat.  He also questioned the apparent omission of any reference to the Nine Mile Ride Cycle Way and expressed a concern that the site might then become subject to development.

Andy Glencross, Countryside Officer at Wokingham Borough Council, spoke in favour of the application.  He explained that the application before the Committee was not an isolated scheme but part of a wider plan to improve networks.  He outlined the history of the site, which had been bought by the Council in 1973 and that the infrastructure dated back to that point.  He went on to indicate that the facilities that would be introduced as part of the plan would cater for the increased population and would make the site more accessible and all-weather.  He suggested that future plans would include an enhancement of the play area, catering operations and lake frontage.

In response, the Service Manager, Highways Development Management, outlined the methodology used by the applicant in surveying the current use of the park during the busiest periods last year, explaining that 358 vehicles had been on-site at the peak.  He stated that the formalisation of the car park spaces would be to improve the current state of the car park.  In regards to the Nine Mile Ride Cycle Way, he clarified that the path was linked to improvements identified for safe route to school associated with the new Arborfield Bohunt School development and was not part of the application before the Committee.  He added that Greenway routes had been identified as part of a separate Council project and that one of the greenway routes would lead to and through California Country Park from Arborfield via Commonfield Lane and, again, was not part of the application before Committee.  He also confirmed that the application included the provision of cycle parking in the form of 42 cycle hoops.

In regard to consultation, the Case Officer outlined the measures that had been taken to consult on the application. She stated that the site had not been identified for development and that, following consultation, some car park spaces had been moved to increase the separation between the car park and neighbouring residences.

In response to Member questions, the Service Manager, Highways Development Management, stated that there were 5 Greenways in Arborfield of which Nine Mile Ride was one.  He explained that the request by a Member for the reduction in speed limit to 30MpH had not previously been supported by the police because of the lack of speed-reduction features on the road, but that future road developments in the area would likely lead to a speed reduction, although this request was not related to the application in front of Committee.  He stated that the application was intended to accommodate and improve the existing provision and that as peak use of the site did not coincide with rush hour traffic, the impact of increased traffic to the site would be negligible.

In response to Member questions, the Case Officer stated that the wider project would include facilities, and the Countryside Officer  went on to indicate that there were comfort facilities on site and that, as part of the new offer of the café contract, an increase in toilet provision would be included.

Resolved:  That application no 163385 be approved subject to the conditions set out in Agenda pages 91 to 110 and the additional condition as laid out in the Members’ Update.