| Up to 10 new flats or houses must be built every week for the next 20 years to keep pace with the growth of jobs in Newbury – newbury.net can reveal.
Fears that the district would be concreted have proved largely unfounded, as the government finally agreed today that West Berkshire is capable of taking 10,500 houses over the next 20 years.
But with at least half of that heading for Newbury, pressure will increase on the district council to permit massive new estates at Sandleford, Enborne Hedges, and Newbury Racecourse.
Local housebuilding rates have fallen to their lowest since the recession, at the same time as the Newbury area has seen an influx of migrant workers to wash cars, deliver pizzas, and clean out stables.
The South East England Regional Assembly – an unelected quango based in Guildford – says the latest version of The South East Plan should be accepted by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott.
It will also mean several months of speculative planning applications, as developers seek to test the council’s policies. | 
