NWN-18062020

NEWBURY NEWS VILLAGE NE S

Thursday, June 18, 2020 27

Newbury Weekly News

Council planners reject Theale redevelopment WEST Berkshire Council’s East- ern Area Planning Committee has rejected plans to construct retail and residential units on the site of a car showroom in Theale. committee voted unanimously against it last Wednesday evening, noting a number of issues, including the scale of the development. traffic would spill out into nearby Station Road. Moreover, the amenity space was deemed insufficient to meet the needs of residents. the community space is slightly below what we expect.

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“My personal view is that I don’t consider 18 per cent – which is nearly a fifth – below what we would expect to be a small decrease in the amount of amenity space. “I think, in a way, I would use the word ‘contrived’.” Cllr Alan Macro (Lib Dem, Theale) said: “I think that the combination of flats not meeting space standards and the amenity space being so far below the council’s guidelines shows that the developer is trying to squeeze far too much on this site.”

Some residents had expressed concerns that the new units would negatively impact the surrounding conservation area, as well as the condition of neighbouring listed properties. While proposals for residential parking facilities are included in the plans, there is no similar provision for delivery vehicles which would service the retail units. Councillors were concerned that

The proposals were lodged by Woolf Bond Planning on behalf of Red Line Land Theale Limited. The developer had sought the demolition of a building in Church Street, presently owned and operated by Theale Motor Company. Council officers had actually recommended the development for approval. However, members of the planning

Graham Pask (Con, Bucklebury) said: “I think this is a well-designed set of flats in what is at the moment a rather scruffy corner on a major junc- tion in Theale. “I will congratulate the architect – I think they’ve done a very good job in putting a not-unattractive building on the site. “Where I have a difficulty is we were told by the planning officer that

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Vineyard’s sparkling future despite lockdown challenge Award-winning Enborne business is confident wine industr y can recover from Covid crisis

NewbuyrMP Laura Farris with HermoitlaugneteVers, from left, KatuernTe,rJane Staunton, CarolycnhPasuer and Andrea Fearon

THE director of a local vineyard has spoken of the challenges the industry faces during lockdown . Mark Darley heads Enborne Vine- yards Limited, based in the West Berkshire village. The firm is renowned for its All Angels range of sparkling wines, which has won multiple industry awards. However, it has borne the brunt of the lockdown, like other wineriesand suppliers across the UK. The company has been forced to call off months of scheduled events and sales are down. Mr Darley said: “Vineyard income comes from a variety of different sources, all of which were affected by covid and social isolation. “Sales to restaurants, pubs, hotels, clubs, stopped– no customers. “Sales to off-licences stopped – at least initially – vineyard tours stopped, cellar door sales stopped. “Certain sales outlets such as supermarkets were still open, but only for those who already had super- market contracts.” Fortunately, the restrictions were put in place in the middle of the year’s wine harvest. Enborne Vineyards had no need for grant fundingand was able to sustain itself on its own resources. The analysis was commissioned by Transport for New Homes, a lobbying group advocating for public transport provision in all proposed builds. Garden communities are self- sustaining settlements located away from larger towns. In recent years, they have emerged as a centrepiece of local authority housebuilding initiatives, with more than a dozen currently nationwide. In January, the Government announced an £8m cash injection into English councils, in a bid to encourage investment in such schemes. As garden towns and villages are meant to be self-contained – outside existing settlement boundaries – plan- ners are able to avoid the public and political opposition which has dogged the expansion of edge-of-town estates. Supporters have insisted that employment, shops and essential services will be provided within the new communities and that accessible transport links are a priority. In 2016, West Berkshire Council – in conjunction with Wokingham and Reading Borough Councils – unveiled plans for the construction of a sizeable garden town in Grazeley. It is to be built at a location directly

WineGB and they swung into action and identified protocols that fitted the Government guidelines for social isolation, but enabled the work to continue in the vineyards. “This all took time, of course, and I suspect that had Covid happened a few months later, there would have been significant delay in work to the detriment of this – and possibly also next year’ s – harvest as we struggled to find the best practices.” “The second aspect is producing and selling the wine. “Again, we were lucky in that our 2019 harvest had just been processed and bottled before Covid, but there are stories of some vineyards not being able to get supplies of bottles. “We deliberately don ’t have a contract with a supermarket, so our sales dried up for a time.” To make up for cancelled dates, the company has staged virtual wine-tast- ing evenings via the Hampshire Wine School and WineTimeLondon. With English Wine Week kicking off on June 20, Enborne Vineyards will also be of ering a virtual tour of its facilities over Instagram. Mr Darley said: “The English wine industry is here to stay and Berkshire wines are muscling their way to the top, something of which we are extremely proud to be a part.”

MP Laura lends a hand in Hermitage NEWBURY MP Laura Farris visited a group of Hermitage residents working round the clock to assist their fellow villagers during lockdown. Mrs Farris met with Andy Murray – organiser of the Hermitage Volunteers– and his team,who have been providing companionship, food and prescrip- tions to vulnerable residents for the past few months. She helped them run errands on Friday. The volunteers are presently working towards establishing a community foodbank, in collabora- tion with charity Spotlight UK. They also hope to expand their operations to neighbouring communities. Mr Murray said: “It was kind of Laura to take the time out of her no doubt busy schedule to visit Hermitage and recognise the importance and value of community volunteer groups such ours during these uncertain times. “It was all good to hear she also shared our real concerns on the long-term impact of Covid-19 on West Berkshire residents.” Outdoor zoos reopen OUTDOOR zoos can now reopen and local attractions are reviewing their plans. There are three major wildlife parks in West Berkshire, but only one has announced plans to reopen soon. Beale Park has not provided a precise date, but has indicated that it intends to reopen some time next week. Bucklebury Farm and Deer Safari Park hopes to begin welcoming the public again before July. The third attraction – the Living Rainforest in Hampstead Norreys – is indoors and therefore not covered by the new rules. Social distancing will be observed at the parks and admissions may initially be limited. Beale Park director Stephen McKeown said: “We need to make sure the place is completely safe for the staff, the animals and the villagers. “Over the next week we’ re going to be doing a lot of intensive deep cleaning, markers for one-way systems and signage to ensure people stay apart.” Boost for anglers HAYWARDS Farm Lake – a popular trout fish- ery in Theale – has fully reopened to the public. The lake is managed by Sportfish Game Fishing Centre, which announced last week that public access would be restored for its on-site retail premises from yesterday (Wednesday). While the lake has been open since May 13, anglers have been unable to take advantage of the centre’s shop . Opening hours are between 9am and 5.30pm, Monday to Saturday, and between 10am and 4pm on Sunday . Fishing is provided on a ticketed basis. www.gamefishingcentre.co.uk/fishery-prices/

Mark Darley at EnborineyVard

year’s exertions, so fortunately the lockdown had little early impact. “From mid-April onwards, however, things begin to pick up, first with bud-burst, then tying down the vines, growth selection and bud- rubbing in May, at which point we could have a team of up to 14 people in for two or three days in a row. “We are lucky to have a very proac- tive and responsive industry body in

Indeed, it has planted a sizeable new vineyard during the lockdown. Mr Darley said: “There are broadly two sides to owning a vineyard. “The first is keeping healthy vines and producing the best-quality grapes, so we were lucky with the timing of Covid. “The early part of the year is when the vines are dormant and emerging from their recovery from the previous

Grazeley development under scrutiny A HOUSING development in Graze- ley is among 20 planned ‘garden communities’ examined in a criti- cal new report. east of Burghfield Common, and would comprise no fewer than 15,000 new homes.

This year, the proposals have edged closer to becoming reality, with the Government allocating funds for a technical survey of the proposed site. However, the new report questions the plausibility of infrastructure pledges made by garden community planners, singling out the Grazeley scheme. While a new railway station has been sought for the Grazeley develop- ment, planners have struggled to secure funding for this. Rapid transit bus services were another key aspect of the proposals, but Transport for NewHomes does not believe these will be delivered on anything like a satisfactory scale. Instead, Grazeley developers are said to have prioritised new roads and junctions. The report stresses that this is bound to create a dependency on cars and motor vehicles, in spite of the sustainable, anti-congestion pitch made by garden community planners. The report sums up its findings: “Rather than being centred on sustain- able transport, it looks like garden communities are to become car-based commuter estates just like any other – exactly what the government wanted to avoid.”