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Burghfield, Mortimer, Beech Hill & Wokefield Update
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Local news from Councillor Nick Carter |
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New crossing at Three Firs Crossroads, Burghfield Common |
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Welcome
Welcome to my autumn update. This edition includes an important change in the timetable for the Mortimer West End proposals, completion of the new Three Firs crossing and this week’s decision on land behind St John’s School.
In this update:
- Mortimer West End Local Plan reset
- New Three Firs crossing
- St John’s School / dentist plans
Also in this edition:
- Ridgeway Council
- EV charging and local updates
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1: Mortimer West End - Local Plan Reset |
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Basingstoke & Deane Council is expected (on September 8) to move its Local Plan – which currently includes around 350 homes at West End Farm, Mortimer West End – onto the Government’s new planning system, and restart its plan-making process. The main reason is unresolved water-supply constraints in the South East Water area - West End Farm itself being in the Thames Water supply area.
Whilst this doesn't mean the 350-home proposal has gone away, it does mean that neither the Mortimer West End site nor the question of whether it remains at 350 homes is progressing towards possible adoption on the original timetable.
The new process will include a fresh call for sites, further evidence gathering and consultation — providing another opportunity for the impacts on Mortimer and West Berkshire to be properly considered before any allocation is confirmed.
At its July meeting, West Berkshire Council unanimously agreed a motion leading to its leadership writing to the Basingstoke & Deane leader, to reiterate its concerns previously raised through the Regulation 18 consultation and to emphasise how it expected cross-border housing allocations to be considered in future.
I’ll be speaking at Cabinet on 8 September to reinforce West Berkshire Council’s concerns and those raised by residents.
 Watch Basingstoke & Deane Cabinet meeting on 8 Sept (18.30)
 Read The Basingstoke & Deane Cabinet Report
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2: New Crossing At Three Firs Crossroads |
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Work on the new pedestrian crossing at Three Firs roundabout has just been completed. The crossing has a central refuge island, to allow pedestrians to cross in two stages. There are improved sight lines and new signage. The scheme provides the highway connection between Burghfield Common and the new multi-user route through the common and wooded areas that's being delivered by Stratfield Mortimer Parish Council.
Despite strong cost pressures we were able to include this work in the council's 2026/27 active travel programme, noting that the foot/cycle way relies on it to provide a safe link.
Stratfield Mortimer Parish Council reports that work on the final section of its path to provide a tarmac path alongside the road netween 5 Oaken Cottage and Longmoor Lane started this week (2 September). Work is expected to be complete by mid October. Once this final section is completed, there should be a continuous multi-user route between Mortimer and Burghfield Common for walking, cycling and horse riding.
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3: Plans approved for school sports area, dentist and over-55 housing |
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Plans have been approved for new school sports/play space and staff parking, a private dentist and over-55s housing on land behind Mortimer St John’s School.
The Planning Committee approved the scheme after considering its community benefits alongside an objection from the Integrated Care Board over the loss of land originally identified for a new GP surgery. Concerns were also raised by residents, and by me, about whether the proposed apartment building complies with the Neighbourhood Plan’s height and design policies.
The proposals follow the review of the use of the land which began in 2022. |
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4: Ridgeway Council - What Happens Next? |
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Further to the item in my last newsletter, the Government announced in July that the new Ridgeway Council is intended to be formed from April 2028, bringing together West Berkshire with most of South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse. Subject to the necessary legislation, elections to the new shadow authority are expected in May 2027. It will then operate alongside the existing councils while preparations are made for Ridgeway to take over services on 1 April 2028.
West Berks Council leadership is determined that whilst the change will inevitably consume much focus and resource over the next 20 months, we must continue to deliver for West Berkshire’s residents. Plans will come to the Council Executive in September about how we effectively balance those two priorities. The cross-party Devolution Advisory Group (DAG), that I sit on, met in August to consider the implications of the government's decision in more detail.
 More about Ridgeway Council
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Electric Vehicle Charging |
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Installation of electric charging points at Aborn Parade, Mortimer, is progressing. It's part of the council's initiative aimed at supporting residents who have no off-street parking and wish to run an electric vehicle.
👉 More information |
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The council recently reinstated highway land where encroachment had narrowed access to properties, and resurfaced the entire stretch. |
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Fly tipping in West End Road Car Park |
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We continue to monitor and consider how to deal with the repeated fly tipping that goes on next to the small electricals and clothes bins. Leaving items next to such bins is a criminal offence, with their removal ultimately being paid for by the taxpayer. |
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Speed Management Near St Mary's School |
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Further to the story in the last newsletter, I’m pleased to report that the new versatile speed education and monitoring sign, for which I secured funding in the summer, has been ranked third out of around 15 competing councillor-led projects. There are 19 existing broken signs which need to be dealt with first, putting our scheme 22nd in the overall programme. Thanks to Cllr Stuart Gourlay (Newbury Clay Hill) Executive Portfolio Holder for Environment and Highways, for his support. |
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Goring Lane and Burghfield Bridge Roadworks
I've set up an information page to try to assist residents who have been caught in one or other sets of roadworks, to explain what the council's role is in this.
👉 More information |
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Newsletter Sign-Up
To receive future newsletters directly by email, simply sign up on my homepage. You can unsubscribe at any time. The homepage also includes previous editions, FAQs and useful links, including information about the Mortimer West End housing proposal. |
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Drop-In/Surgery
Raise local issues with us at our monthly surgeries, usually held on the first Saturday of each month:
- Nick at The Baobab, West End Road, Mortimer from 10.00–11.00 (please prebook by calling or emailing)
- Vic at Burghfield Library in School Lane, from 10.00–11.30.
Residents are welcome to raise any local council matter. |
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A Personal View
This newsletter aims to remain mainly factual and non-political. This section allows me to add a personal perspective. |
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The Government is changing the way council planning decisions are made. From the end of October, a new national scheme will determine which applications must be decided by planning officers and which can come before councillors. The intention is that planning committees concentrate on the more significant or contentious cases where member scrutiny can add value.
I joined our Eastern Area Planning Committee for the first time in May and have so far been involved in considering four applications. I went into the process slightly sceptical about one part of it in particular — the site visits. Surely, I thought, I can look at the plans, talk to the case officer, read the report and turn up at committee properly informed.
I was wrong about that. I have found the site visits extremely useful. They allow us to see the relationship between a proposal and its surroundings in a way that drawings don't always convey, and to hear directly from officers. Parish councils, applicants, objectors and affected residents also put considerable effort into explaining their views.
That doesn't necessarily mean every part of the committee process works equally well. For the Aldermaston application we considered this week, for example, only three of the seven councillors who ultimately determined the application had attended the site visit. My early experience has made me more sympathetic than I expected to the idea that committees should be reserved for cases where member involvement genuinely adds something to the decision.
Then there is the substance of the decisions themselves.
This week's Mortimer application included the 12-metre-high apartment building shown above. The officer report concluded that it complied with the Mortimer Neighbourhood Development Plan, and the committee subsequently approved the application.
The relevant policy says homes should be no more than two storeys, or three where roof space is utilised, and that apartment buildings should respect the scale of surrounding houses.
To me — and to others who raised the same concern — that wording was intended to allow rooms within the roof of a building designed as two storeys. The proposed apartment block appears to me to be a three-storey building from the outset. Putting part of its upper windows into the roof does not, in my view, turn it into a two-storey building with accommodation in the roof. At 12 metres high and on relatively high ground, I remain unconvinced that this is what the Neighbourhood Plan envisaged.
That matters beyond this one application. We are quite rightly asking Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council to respect Mortimer's Neighbourhood Plan when it considers development at Mortimer West End.
We should be equally exacting about how we apply that plan ourselves. |
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Ridgeway Council - Better Together? |
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The arrival of Ridgeway Council brings a mixture of reactions — enthusiasm from some, concern from others and, I suspect, a fair amount of disinterest from people who simply want their council services to work.
There is no disguising that bringing several councils together will be a difficult process. Our chief executive has talked about the considerable challenge of the next 20 months, while we are equally determined that preparing for Ridgeway must not distract us from delivering services to West Berkshire residents now. Anyone who has been through a merger at work will probably recognise some of what lies ahead. There can also be a natural tendency to assume that we do things better than “the other lot”.
One understandable concern is whether a larger council will make it harder for individual communities to get attention. My experience makes me a little more optimistic about that.
In my previous private-sector career I often worked for large US companies, where part of my job was making sure local needs were heard within a much bigger organisation. The same principle applies here: effective local representatives need to make the case for their communities.
We already do that within West Berkshire. It might be assumed, for example, that a highways portfolio holder representing Newbury Clay Hill would naturally be more interested in his own area than Mortimer. Yet Cllr Stuart Gourlay has supported this ward on the skate park funding, the Three Firs crossing and the new school speed sign, among other projects.
And, of course, council leader Jeff Brooks, Portfolio Lead Denise Gaines and senior staff “rolled into town” to support us over the Mortimer West End housing proposal. Jeff, whose own ward is in Thatcham, gave a particularly forceful speech about fighting the proposal. One resident was sufficiently impressed to ask whether, if the developers came back in five years' time, he would still be around to fight it again. Jeff duly reassured them about his health.
None of that removes the legitimate concerns about creating a much larger council. But it does make me more optimistic than some that, with effective local representation, Ridgeway can work. |
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Broadcasting Icon Set For Dry Docking |
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Owners of Ross Revenge, home of Radio Caroline since 1983, have paid a £50k deposit to secure a berth in Hull dry dock to carry out urgent structural work on this broadcasting icon. This follows a recent fundraiser broadcast that raised nearly £70,000, taking the total dry docking fund to the £750,000 mark.
We don't yet have a date for her to sail to Hull, so meanwhile five of us are heading out to the ship for the monthly "anorakathon" weekend. That's where we and listeners live and breathe a weekend of top tunes from the ’60s to the ’90s, all presented live. We call it Caroline North, named after our long-gone northern ship, and reflecting our partnership with Manx Radio, the Isle of Man's national broadcaster. Also, if Andy Burnham has a No. 10 North, why can't Caroline.
It starts at 10am on Sat 12 and runs to 9pm on Sun 13 September. When not on air, we enjoy showing visitors round the ship or putting the world to rights in the mess room.
Listeners can tune in via smart speaker ("Play Manx Radio AM"), via the Radio Caroline app, online and on 648 kHz AM. Guided tours of the ship are also available.
Event details (will appear w/c Sept 7) |
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