Warehouse common plan turned down

Cruise missiles leave Greenham Common in its days as an airbase

Plans for a warehouse complex the size of 15 football pitches, which residents claim would damage Greenham Common and surrounding areas, have been refused.

Prologis wants to build the depot at New Greenham Business Park in Newbury.

Two sets of plans were turned down by West Berkshire Council on Wednesday, one for 54,000 sq m (13.3 acres), the other for 47,000 sq m (11.6 acres).

Councillors rejected the application due to concerns over traffic and the impact on the surrounding area.

Prologis said planning policy supported the re-use of previously developed land over building on greenfield sites.

Rare birds

New Greenham Business Park was once the site of Greenham Common Airbase, a major US airforce base which housed nuclear weapons but was made redundant from military operations in 1992.

Some residents argued the buildings, which will be visible from Greenham Common, will block the views across to Hampshire and Watership Down.

The Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) said the development would also have a direct impact on rare birds that nest and breed on the common, which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Prologis claimed the development would not have an "unacceptable" impact on roads in the area and that its applications were in accordance with up-to-date planning policies for the site.