Officers back up to 850 homes at Priors Farm, south Wokingham, at Wednesday's committee, plus 21 social-rent flats by the station. 218 people objected.
Up to 850 homes could be approved on farmland south of Wokingham on Wednesday. Council planning officers are recommending that the planning committee approves the scheme at Priors Farm, west of Old Wokingham Road and either side of Easthampstead Road. The committee meets at 7pm on Wednesday 14 October at the Civic Offices, Shute End (Wokingham Borough Council, Planning Committee agenda, 14 October 2026).
The same meeting will decide the council’s own plan for 21 social-rent flats on the empty corner of Wellington Road and Station Road, next to Wokingham station. Officers recommend approval for both, and for 44 homes at Riseley.
The site is not allocated for housing in the borough’s current plan. Officers say the council can show only a 2.5-year supply of housing land, against a target of five, and that weighs heavily in the scheme’s favour.
What is proposed at Priors Farm
The applicant is Lightwood Strategic. The site covers 55.79 hectares, currently farmland (officer report, application 241933). It is a hybrid application: outline permission for the homes, with only the access roads fixed now, and full permission for a new public green space.
The report sets out:
- up to 850 homes, of which up to 340 (40%) would be affordable
- a neighbourhood centre of up to 2,000 square metres for shops or community use
- land for a one-form-entry primary school, built only if the council decides it is needed
- 31.11 hectares of public open space, including about 20.17 hectares of Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace (SANG), with a car park
- play areas and allotments
- mostly two-storey homes, rising to three storeys around the neighbourhood centre and main roads
The legal agreement would also fund secondary school places, GP and health facilities, a sports hub at Grays Farm, bus services and new walking and cycling links into Wokingham.
Easthampstead Road would stop being a through route
The biggest change for drivers is on Easthampstead Road. The legal agreement lists a “prohibition of driving” along it. Easthampstead Road would connect into the new estate through a new junction but would no longer carry through traffic, according to the report.
Wokingham Without Parish Council objected that this would push traffic through residential streets. Officers say the council’s highways team has assessed the revised road layout and found the impact would not be severe. There would also be a new junction onto Old Wokingham Road and changes where it meets Easthampstead Road.
The scheme relies on the South Wokingham Distributor Road, now being built. The report expects it to open fully in the first half of 2027. Our roadworks and travel page tracks the current closures.
Who objected
The report records 218 objections and 3 letters of support. Objectors said the scheme would:
- erode the gap between Wokingham and Bracknell
- stretch roads, power, water, doctors and dentists already serving the new homes south of the railway
- come forward before the Local Plan Update is adopted
- cause the loss of countryside and rural character
- lack a robust drainage scheme
Some official bodies still had concerns when the report was written:
- Bracknell Forest Council has a holding objection on highways. It says the traffic modelling does not reflect real conditions, and it wants more work on the roundabout design and on how lorries turn at the Easthampstead Road junction.
- The council’s own drainage officer objected because further information was not provided. Officers propose planning conditions to deal with it.
- Sport England has a holding objection over sports provision. Officers say a contribution to off-site sports at Grays Farm is being secured.
- Active Travel England asked for more information. Officers say it will be handled through the legal agreement and conditions.
Natural England, the Environment Agency, National Highways and Thames Water did not object.
Part of a bigger extension
Priors Farm is the largest of four linked applications. Together they make up a proposed extension to the South Wokingham development area under policy SS12 of the council’s draft Local Plan Update, which would add around 1,100 homes. The plan’s inspectors raised no objection in principle to the site in their August letter, but the plan is not yet adopted.
The other three are:
- Application B (242279): up to 180 homes on adjoining land by Nicholas King Homes
- Application C (242051): a vehicle crossing of Byway 30 to reach both sites
- Application D (211033): up to 95 homes and six Gypsy and Traveller pitches, off Old Wokingham Road
Those three are not on Wednesday’s agenda. The Priors Farm legal agreement can only be completed alongside approval of the others. If it is not signed within six months, the recommendation is that officers refuse the application.
This is separate from the 215 homes by Wood’s Farm that officers approved in September, which sit in the already-approved phase of South Wokingham.
The station flats
Wokingham Borough Council is itself the applicant for a three-storey block of 21 flats on land at the junction of Wellington Road and Station Road (officer report, application 251621). All 21 would be for social rent. The 0.23-hectare site is vacant and is earmarked in the draft Local Plan for about 20 homes.
The scheme is largely car-free. It has:
- 6 car spaces: 2 for disabled drivers and 4 for staff and visitors
- 24 cycle spaces
- a small public amenity space of 0.049 hectares
It would mean felling a Poplar tree protected by a tree preservation order.
Wokingham Town Council welcomed the affordable housing but objected (Town Council comments). It said the building’s height and mass facing Park Road were excessive, it would overlook homes in Park Road, and the lack of parking would push carers and visitors onto nearby streets. The Wokingham Society supports the scheme. There were 66 responses in the first consultation and 41 in the second.
Officers accept one conflict with policy: the scheme does not pay the off-site open space contribution the borough’s rules ask for. They conclude the benefits outweigh it. The deal includes £17,127 towards healthcare and £3,000 for the Station Road bus stop.
Also on the agenda
- Land north of Sun Lane, Riseley: outline plans for up to 44 homes, 40% of them affordable, by the Wellington Estate and 3West Group. Riseley is about six miles south-west of Wokingham, by the Hampshire border, and the application crosses into Hart district (officer report, application 260774).
- Two house applications in Earley, at 8 Milton Road and 41 Harcourt Drive, both recommended for approval.
What it means for you
- Watch it: the meeting is open to the public, and the council streams it (webcast link).
- If you live near Old Wokingham Road or Easthampstead Road, the access plans in the report are the detail to read now. Layout and house designs come later, in reserved matters applications that will each go out for comment.
- If you are on the housing register, the 21 station flats and up to 340 affordable homes at Priors Farm are the numbers to watch, though Priors Farm would take years to build.
- Our planning news page covers decisions across the borough.
We will report the committee’s decisions after Wednesday’s meeting.
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