West Berkshire Council refused David Wilson Homes' bid to scrap the Donnington Heights school site and £4m fund on 2 October. The developer can appeal.
West Berkshire Council has refused a request by David Wilson Homes to drop the promised primary school at Donnington Heights in north Newbury.
The developer wanted to remove every obligation linked to the school. That meant the 1.7-hectare school site within the estate and the money towards building it. The council issued its refusal on Friday 2 October. (West Berkshire Council, decision notice, application 25/02302/MDOPO)
The council said the school “continue[s] to serve a useful purpose” and that removing it would not serve that purpose “equally well”. Those are the two legal tests for changing a planning obligation.
What the developer promised
The estate off Oxford Road won planning permission on appeal in March 2017. It was approved for up to 401 homes, a local centre and a one-form-entry primary school site. David Wilson Homes and Taylor Wimpey have been building it since.
The legal agreement signed at the appeal promised:
- a 1.7-hectare school site, prepared and handed to the council for £1
- a school for 210 pupils, with 26 full-time nursery places
- a contribution of £4,060,800, index-linked from early 2015
Only 10% of that contribution has been paid. The other 90% falls due when the council gives notice that it will sign a building contract. If no contract is signed within ten years of the last home being occupied, the obligation ends. (Officer’s delegated report)
At the 2017 inquiry, both sides agreed the estate would produce about 150 primary-age children.
Why David Wilson Homes wanted it removed
The developer’s planning agent, Turley, said falling birth rates meant neither the land nor the money was now needed. A new school, it argued, “would increase the already high level of surplus capacity in the area”. (Turley cover letter, 29 September 2025)
Its own evidence was less clear-cut. The education study it commissioned from Alfredson York counted 1,979 primary places within two miles of the estate. It found 33 spare places in January 2025, or 1.67%. Using the Department for Education’s capacity figures instead, it found 107, or 5.41%. The study said it was “unclear why there is this discrepancy”. (Alfredson York Education Impact Assessment)
The cover letter also says David Wilson Homes formally offered the land in July 2024. The council turned it down at the time, citing missing technical detail, mostly on ground conditions.
What the council found
The council’s Education Service objected twice. Its second response sets out the numbers. (Education Service consultation response)
- 252 children living on the estate now attend West Berkshire schools, up from 20 in September 2022.
- They are spread across 25 primary schools and 3 secondary schools.
- 195 children aged 0 to 5 live in the Shaw-cum-Donnington catchment, using NHS data from 1 September 2026.
- There were 38 births in the catchment in the year to 1 September.
- The catchment school has room for fewer than half of the under-fives.
The two council papers disagree on the 2021 starting point. The Education Service says 50 children aged 0 to 5 lived in the catchment before people moved in. The planning officer’s report gives 41.
The Education Service also said Newbury’s schools are close to full. Its forecast for the planning area that covers the estate shows more pupils than places in every year to 2030:
| September | Forecast pupils | Places | Short by |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1,458 | 1,435 | 23 |
| 2027 | 1,465 | 1,435 | 30 |
| 2028 | 1,464 | 1,435 | 29 |
| 2029 | 1,471 | 1,435 | 36 |
| 2030 | 1,467 | 1,435 | 32 |
The published table prints the 2030 gap as 3. Its own pupil and place figures give 32, which is the number shown here.
Spare places do exist elsewhere in the district. The council said they are “typically in villages and smaller towns”. The officer’s report says families on the estate face a 30 to 60 minute walk each way to other schools, or a drive down the A339.
What the council wants to do with the site
The council does not plan a brand new school alongside the old one. It wants to move Shaw-cum-Donnington Church of England Primary School onto the safeguarded site and expand it.
Shaw-cum-Donnington Parish Council told the council the school is in a Grade II listed Victorian building in poor structural condition. It has no hall big enough for a whole-school assembly, no kitchen, no dining area and no grass. Lunches are cooked off site and served in the village hall. (Parish council objection, 24 October 2025)
The planning officer wrote that once the land is released, an equivalent site “is unlikely to be capable of being recreated”. The report adds that confidential talks with David Wilson Homes about a different set of obligations did not reach agreement.
Councillor Heather Codling, the executive member for children and family services, said the refusal sends “a clear message” that “commitments made through the planning process are honoured”. (West Berkshire Council, 2 October 2026)
Who objected
The council received 34 public comments, and all 34 objected. Nobody wrote in support. Residents said the school was a reason they bought on the estate and featured in sales material. Some said they felt misled.
Shaw-cum-Donnington Parish Council, Newbury Town Council and the Newbury Society all objected too. The parish council estimated the land and building together could be worth close to £7 million.
What it means for you
- The school site stays protected for now. The obligation stands in full, including the unpaid 90% of the contribution.
- No new school is coming yet. The council has published no date, budget or building contract for the move. Nothing in the papers says when a contract might be signed.
- The developer can appeal. The decision notice gives six months from 2 October 2026, which runs to early April 2027.
- An older request is still open. The officer’s report lists an earlier application to change the same agreement, 21/00921/MDOPO, as “Pending Consideration”.
The decision was taken by a planning officer under delegated powers, not by a committee. The full file is on the council’s planning register under 25/02302/MDOPO. For other decisions near you, see our Newbury planning news.
Shaw-cum-Donnington Parish Council next meets at 7.30pm on Wednesday 21 October at the village hall.
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