Outline plans for 850 new homes approved
The Priors Farm development sits on the Wokingham/Bracknell border
Last updated 12th Nov 2026
Outline plans for up to 850 new homes on the Wokingham/Bracknell border have been approved despite concerns around road safety, congestion and pressure on local services.
Wokingham Borough Council’s planning committee voted eight to one in favour of the Priors Farm development on Wednesday (November 11), with no abstentions.
The 56-hectare site, west of Old Wokingham Road and either side of Easthampstead Road, would include up to 850 homes, of which 340 could be affordable, a neighbourhood centre, public open space and land for a primary school.
Wokingham Borough Council is drawing up a new Local Plan setting out where homes and other development should be built across the borough up to 2040.
Priors Farm forms the largest part of a proposed extension to the South Wokingham Strategic Development Location, where the plan earmarks land for around 1,100 additional homes.
But the proposals attracted 218 objections, with councillors grilling officers about whether the surrounding roads could cope with extra traffic from hundreds of new households.
Bracknell Forest Council also objected, arguing that a safe and deliverable transport strategy had not been demonstrated.
The committee heard from three public speakers who spoke against the plans, with one claiming there had been 48 recorded collisions on Easthampstead Road and saying outstanding road safety and drainage concerns should be resolved before permission was granted.
Wokingham’s highways officer acknowledged the corridor had a “long history of accidents”, saying there had been around six personal injury accidents in the previous three years, including a cluster near the Easthampstead Road junction.
However, he said he was satisfied solutions could be found and described the highways proposals as a reasonable balance.
Wokingham Without ward councillor Séona Turtle called for the application to be refused or deferred, saying safe road access needed to be “demonstrated, not assumed”.
She also questioned the traffic modelling, public transport provision and how improvements involving Bracknell Forest would be funded.
Councillor Rebecca Margetts said she was uncomfortable supporting access for a development of this size while concerns remained unresolved.
She said: “I am concerned. We are potentially looking to grant access for people living in 850 dwellings, people could have two cars per dwelling.
“You are asking us to agree a substantial development without these issues being addressed.”
She also questioned whether walking and cycling routes would offer a realistic alternative to driving and said: “I just wish you’d brought this to us with an agreement with Bracknell in place.”
Officers acknowledged the two councils remained at odds over aspects of the highways proposals.
A senior planning officer told the committee: “I have absolute sympathy with you all as councillors, it’s a near impossible situation we face as central government has made building homes a greater priority.”
He explained that councils could only refuse developments on highways grounds where their cumulative impact would be severe.
“We are not entirely happy with highways solutions, but we are going to have to work really hard to find that balance,” he said.
Councillor Wayne Smith questioned what members could realistically do in the face of the pressures and told the meeting: “We are helpless as a planning committee. We have no tools in our armoury to do anything.”
Councillor Moses Iyengunmwena also expressed reservations, telling members: “I don’t have confidence in this, full stop.”
Despite the concerns, the applicant’s representative urged councillors to back the scheme, describing it as “the right scheme in the right place and ready to deliver”.
The developer, Lightwood Strategic, says the site would be divided into eastern and western neighbourhoods around a central park, with a Market Square intended to accommodate businesses such as cafés and bakeries.
The plans also include more than 20 hectares of Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace (SANG) south of Easthampstead Road, alongside walking and cycling routes.
A new roundabout on Old Wokingham Road would provide the main access, with another connection from Easthampstead Road.
The site is currently designated as countryside and is not allocated for development in the adopted Local Plan.
However, officers said Wokingham could demonstrate only a 2.5-year supply of housing land, below the five years required nationally.
They argued the development would make a significant contribution to housing needs, particularly through its affordable homes.
The decision came at Wokingham’s first planning committee meeting since new national rules governing how planning applications are determined came into force on October 31.
The new system changes which applications can be decided by elected planning committees and which are dealt with by planning officers under delegated powers.
After 90 minutes of discussions, councillors approved the outline application subject to a Section 106 legal agreement securing infrastructure contributions.
Detailed matters including the layout, appearance, scale and landscaping will be considered through future applications.
The plans can be viewed on Wokingham Borough Council’s planning portal under application 241933.