Golf course homes plan turned down at High Court

Companies that wanted to add 70 homes to a project currently under construction on a former golf course have seen a bid turned down at the High Court.

Emmer Green Drive is a new estate of 223 homes being built by Vistry Thames Valley on the former site of Reading Golf Club in Caversham, Berkshire.

Landowner Reading Golf Club and land acquisition company Fairfax (Reading) Ltd submitted plans to South Oxfordshire District Council (SODC) for the additional homes but the authority rejected them in December.

An appeal for them was rejected by the Planning Inspectorate in June and on Thursday Judge Sir Peter Lane rejected an application for a judicial review.

Reading Borough Council had not determined an application for the access to the site of the 70 homes but the appeal for that was also rejected in June, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Matt Rodda, the Labour MP for Reading Central, said: "I am delighted that this ruling has turned down the appeal by developers who wanted to build in the green gap between Caversham and Emmer Green and Sonning Common.

"The development in the part of Reading Golf Course in Oxfordshire would have built on vital green space and increased traffic on local roads in Emmer Green.

"It could also have set a precedent for other development in Oxfordshire on the boundary with Reading."