Hurst Village Society News

Hurst Village Society was formed in December 1971 to prevent further gravel extraction, and to preserve and enhance the rural character of the parish.

Since then its aims have broadened to include the provision of an independent focal point for the community, promoting the use of amenities and encouraging people to get involved in village activities. We organise social events, produce this newsletter and the Skills Register, maintain the Hurst Village website, and speak on behalf of residents to ensure Hurst develops without prejudicing its unique character.

The current annual subscription is £5.00 per household, and is reviewed each year at the AGM. Membership of the Hurst Village Society is renewable on 1st January every year. If you are not a member already, please consider joining the HVS by filling in the form and contributing to activities in the village.

Success at Farm Shop Appeal

Among the Society's activities this year we continued to object to the development of a farm shop on land owned by Luff Farms Ltd between Lodge Road and Tape Lane. This is currently used as a field for grazing horses, and over the past few years Luff Farms has repeatedly sought planning permission for change of use - including housing developments.

There have been several appeals, the most recent of which was in September, when the Planning Inspector ruled against Luff Farms and upheld Wokingham District Council's decision to refusing planning permission for a farm shop.

The appeal was rejected primarily on the unsuitability for such development on the landscape. The Inspector picked this up from the Parish Council and HVS written submissions.

He said that the proposal "would demonstrably harm the rural character and appearance of the locality, and would seriously erode the landscape setting of the settlement of Hurst." He also regarded the financial viability as being a relevant test, and that Luff Farms had not adequately addressed the weaknesses and errors in their business plan.

In his summarising statement the Inspector said: "I see no justification to allow the proposed development against a policy framework that seeks to protect the countryside for its own sake. Even if the proposal was economically viable, I consider that, in detail, the harmful visual impact of the proposed development on the local landscape justifies refusal on its own."

HVS Committee meetings

The next Committee meeting of the Hurst Village Society will be held on 23 January. If you would like any issues to be raised at that meeting, please contact any member of the committee - full details on the back page. The AGM will be held on Friday 28 February in the Small Village Hall. Anyone resident in the parish is welcome to attend this meeting. We will be looking for new committee members, so please contact one of the current committee before the AGM if you would like to be nominated.

Newsletter

The next edition of the Newsletter will be published in February. Please send your contributions of news and information to Wendy Tobitt either by e-mail or call 0118 934 xxxx by 31 January.