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Thursday, April 16, 2020 20 NEWBURY NEWS Parish council u-turns on Sungrove Farm plan East Woodhay withdraws support for development in light of AONB objections

Newbury Weekly News

National design award for Monks Lane care home From left, Khosro Bashi from specialist ar chi ect oToley & Fost,erJon Chapman from Pinders, June Andrews of Stirling Dementia Ser vices DevelopmentruTst, Sean Kime from Porthaven, K’eHiathraOfrom Condy LofthousecAhirtects, KeyrrSouthern from Care Home Interiors and Libby Edwards from Condy Lofthouse Ar chit cts

A GROUP of East Woodhay villagers opposing the Sungrove Farm development in East End are celebrating after the parish council reversed its support of the scheme. In December last year, East Woodhay Parish Council marginally voted in favour of the scheme, which seeks to build a multi-use development with a café and bakery selling local produce, as well as an education space. Following objections raised by the North Wessex Downs Area of Natural Beauty (AONB), however, a second vote was held on Monday, March 30 – and this time the scheme was opposed by an overwhelming majority. The application will still go before Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council’s planning authorities – but Friends of East End (FOEE) are delighted at the parish council’s change of mind. Peter Brunsden, representing the body, said: “We are very pleased. “The parish council was in a difficult position in December – they had to respond extremely quickly, almost within a week. “We feel the AONB report is a game-changer and it takes some- body like the AONB – who look at the macro picture – to say this is like the emperor’s new clothes. “People are almost a bit scared to go against it because the appli- cants are very wealthy and power- ful, but you have to look at the scheme and think it’s just ridicu- lous in the scale of this little hamlet.”

Report by JONATHAN ASHBY email jon.ashby@newburynews.co.uk twitter @jonathana_nwn

The project – put forward by Emily von Opel, who lives with her husband Georg von Opel in the Malverleys opposite Sungrove Farm – has run into constant opposition since it was first proposed last year. While Mrs von Opel has argued that the scheme is socially rather than commercially driven and will act as a meeting place within the hamlet, many residents feel that the scale of the operation remains far too big. In the March 30 council meet- ing, two councillors – Mark Rand and Paul Hurst – suggested they could support the scheme if it was downsized, and Mr Brunsden was inclined to agree. He said: “The scale of it is still the main problem. “We’ve got no objection to that site being developed, but in a much more organic way. “The current application is just way too big and has too many bells and whistles to be consid- ered credible in my view, and that’s the view held by the over- whelming majority of people who live within half a mile of the site. “Even if it was smaller, I still think it would meet resistance as it’s still a commercial enterprise and that would change the nature and character of the hamlet completely.” In response to the council’s U- turn, Lorna Byrne of Planning Potential – the company behind

The award was presented on March 11 at the Royal Lancaster London Hotel. The home provides tailored residential, nursing, dementia and respite care. A spokeswoman for the home, Julia Bohanna, said: “The trophy will certainly take pride of place for all the hard- working staff and lovely resi- dents to see. “It is affirmation that reflects the clever and empathetic design... it’s encouraging to earn a plaudit that shows the home is clearly a place to live well, in considerable comfort.” cannabis in his system exceeded the specified limit on September 17 last year. He also admitted driving without insurance on the same occasion. Mr McCarthy was fined £850 and ordered to pay £85 costs, plus a victim services surcharge of £55. In addition, he was banned from driving for 36 months. “We still have some tankers in the area though to help manage water levels in our sewer network and stop flooding. “Despite the recent dry spell groundwater levels are still high, so we’ ll keep the filter in place for as long as it’s needed.” Meanwhile, Thames Water warned that the filter may not work efficiently if people “continue to dispose of non-flush- able items like wipes down their toilets, which have already clogged up the filter more than once”. Ms Nelson added: “We’re aware that nationally many people have been using alternatives to loo roll due to panic buyers not leaving enough for everyone on shop shelves, but it’ s vital that nothing other than the‘three Ps’ – pee, poo and toilet paper – are flushed away. “If we all take care and work together the filter will do its job and Lambourn and the environ- ment will be better protected.” She concluded by saying that those working in the water and sewerage industry have been iden- tified by the Government as key workers and customers can expect to see the company’ s engineers working in their communities to maintain essential water and wastewater services during the pandemic and prevent problems in the future.

A NEWBURY care home has won a national award. Porthaven’s Falkland Grange Care Home in Monks Lane was awarded first place in the cate- gory of Best Specialist Dementia Design in the prestigious Pinders Healthcare Design Awards. The awards have been estab- lished for more than two decades and recognise the best developments in all types of care-related property. Entrants are rated on a long list of elements, including resi- dent comfort, aesthetic features, signage and staff needs.

the scheme – said it would revisit its plans before the proposal went before Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, but was keen not to add to the borough coun- cil’s workload during the coron- avirus lockdown. She said: “We have revisited the plans for Sungrove Farm and have been looking into noise and lighting options and impacts in particular. “The von Opels appreciate the extraordinarily difficult times people are experiencing and they The approach to Sungrove Farm, East End

are mindful that councils are currently focused on serving their local communities, protect- ing vulnerable individuals and supporting the NHS. “We don’t want to submit new information and add to the coun- cil’s workload at this difficult time. “There will inevitably be some delays to the planning process, but we intend to submit addi- tional information for the parish and borough councils to consider in due course.”

Drug-driver’s 36-month ban A MOTORIST hasbeen caught driving while on drugs.

In the dock at Reading Magis- trates’ Court on Wednesday, March 11, was 21-year-old Conner Dennis McCarthy, of Bath Road, Thatcham. He admitted driving a Seat Ibiza at the BP petrol station in Newbury when the amount of

Filter installed to end sewage misery THAMES Water has installed a special filter in a bid to end Lambourn’s annual sewage misery. attractive to look at, it’s far quieter than the tankers and stays in one place, reducing large vehi- cle movements through the village.

The company acted following a slew of bad publicity in February when it was revealed that villagers had been suffering raw effluent pouring down Newbury Street and into the River Lambourn almost annually for the last 17 years. As reported by the Newbury Weekly News , a customer services manager for the utility company in 2003 wrote to residents apolo- gising for the sewage overflow in the village street and promising to “seek a resolution to this situa- tion”. Earlier this year, as the problem erupted again, with a geyser of sewage spewing from a manhole in Newbury Street, local vicar the Rev Julie Mintern told the NWN : “I’m really concerned my parish- ioners are having to walk and drive through this. “It’s a health hazard.” Newbury MP Laura Farris said at the time: “There needs to be a fundamental rethink by Thames Water.” The company announced last week it had installed the filter“to help ease problems caused by ongoing groundwater flooding” . Thames Water said in a state- ment: “Prolonged heavy rain in late 2019 and early 2020 means groundwater levels in the Lambourn Valley have been exceptionally high in recent months andcontinue to be higher than normal, despite there not

The filter installed in Lambourn

having been much rain in recent weeks. “This has led to sewers in the village filling up and overflowing, which has been a particular prob- lem in Newbury Street, where tankers have been pumping away the excess water.” The ‘temporary’ filter installa- tion is now functioning and Thames Water said it means all the excess water, some of which was running down the road, is now being captured and filtered to remove any solids, and its general quality improved, before it is released into the environment. Thames Water area manager Karen Nelson said: “We appreci- ate the last few months have been tough for the people of Lambourn and we’re glad that we’ve been able to put the filter in place to ease some of the problems the groundwater has been causing. “Although the filter isn’t all that