Sorry that we've been away for a while!
We have had to resolve some technical issues which has taken a lot longer than expected but we can now restart our newsletters and will be responding to your emails once again.
Please note that we have changed our email address to: hello@keepemmergreen.org We are also going to update our website but that is still in progress. The website address has changed to: www.keepemmergreen.org
Former Reading Golf Club site
There has been significant activity installing fencing around the perimeter of the site, often touching hedges and fences of neighbouring properties, and also surrounding those trees that presumably are planned to be kept. The fences are the steel mesh type used for security (to keep the neighbours out!) and offer no barrier to protect local residents from noise or dirt.
A significant number of light vans and some heavy lorries have passed round and through the site. There has been some damage to trees including the loss of a large part of the oldest Oak Tree, although this may just have been an unfortunate consequence of the dry summer. At least one tree has been chopped down. It was claimed to have been diseased but we saw no evidence of any disease on the trunk or branches that were left on site.
There have been two grass fires, reportedly started by the fencing contractors creating sparks when cutting steel poles. One of them was sufficiently serious to require urgent Fire Brigade attendance with two tenders working for over an hour to extinguish the flames.
All of what was previously scrub land (the "rough" in golf language) was severely cut back when fences were being installed and the extensive strimming appears to have resulted in the deaths of several hedgehogs. The former golf club fairways continue to be regularly cut. We suspect that the only reason for doing this is to set a low biodiversity base-line so that Vistry (the builder) has fewer things to do to achieve the improvement targets that they have been set. It appears that Vistry prefer to spend money to manipulate the statistics rather than invest in real environmental improvements.
A few homes in the local area received a Vistry "newsletter", dated August but delivered in October. It contained very little useful information or news. Curiously, it was not delivered to many of the homes that directly border the site!
What next
There are now three detailed planning applications published on the Reading Borough Council website, which you can comment on (* by November 19 or ** December 6). To view the documents, click on the following links:
220930 - appearance of buildings and site layout (**)
220958 - Construction Method Statement (*)
221312 - landscape, biodiversity, trees, etc (**)
We have not yet had chance to read and comment on all of these documents but we are working hard to do so and hope to submit our comments shortly.
KEG also plans, along with CADRA and Peppard Ward Councillors, to meet the developers next week to learn more of what is planned, raise concerns from residents and press for better community involvement. We'll report back to you on any progress made.
Other news
KEG has supported the local community with its plans to make the so-called green triangle on the corner of Kidmore End Road and Grove Road (opposite the Black Horse pub) into a flowerbed. The work took several weekends and involved clearing the thatch of grass and weeds; breaking up some old heavy paving slabs which had been used to support a long-dismantled bench; and the cultivating of the compacted soil to allow the sowing of bulbs and planting of lavender plants. Margaret Ormonde was the instigator and organiser of this project, and we should also recognise the support given by Steve Baker and his team at MBC Fencing, who donated and installed oak posts to protect and identify the site.
The plan for a 15m-high mobile phone mast that we reported on in our previous newsletter had been turned down is now subject to appeal.
If you have any news or questions about developments in the locality, please contact us.