Hare Hatch

Human settlement in England

Wokingham

Berkshire

Region

South East

CountryEnglandSovereign stateUnited KingdomPost townReadingPostcode districtRG10Dialling code0118PoliceThames ValleyFire Royal Berkshire Ambulance South Central UK Parliament

Berkshire

List of places: UK; England; Berkshire

51°29′42″N 0°50′36″W / 51.495089°N 0.843311°W / 51.495089; -0.843311

Hare Hatch is a village in Berkshire, England, and part of the civil parish of Ruscombe. According to the Post Office the majority of the population at the 2011 Census was included in the civil parish of Wargrave. The settlement lies near to the A4 road, and is located approximately 7 miles (11 km) north-east of Reading. It is close to Twyford, and also lies approximately 6 miles (9.7 km) west of Maidenhead. On 27 April 1927 seven Reading FC fans were killed when their bus crashed in Hare Hatch on the way home from a match against Chelsea.^[1]

Garden centres

The area is perhaps best known for its three garden centres, two of which are situated directly across the A4 road from each other.^[2] The largest of the three garden centres, Hare Hatch Sheeplands, has frequently had difficulties with the local council in arranging planning permission, and issues revolving around the change of use of the existing buildings on site, from a nursery, farm shop and cafe, to mixed retail with a cafe and play area on green belt land. This is still unresolved,^[3] and a judicial review of the council's refusal to grant a Certificate of Lawful Use was heard at the High Court in September 2016.^[4]

Ultimately, an injunction held in 2017 ruled that the business must comply with the council's requirements, forcing several of the site's concessions to close as of May 2017.^[5] In 2018, a judge ruled that Wokingham Borough Council had "offended the court's sense of justice" in their handling of the planning dispute, by waiting for Sheeplands to withdraw their appeal, then promptly prosecuting them.^[6] The case has since been ‘indefinitely halted’ as a result of this misconduct by the borough council, effectively closing the case in Sheeplands' favour.

References

^ Little Book of Reading FC, Alan Sedunary, p32
^ "Hare Hatch Sheeplands · London Rd, Hare Hatch, Reading RG10 9HW, United Kingdom".
^ "Save Our Business - Hare Hatch Sheeplands". Archived from the original on 25 December 2014. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
^ Roddy, Tom (18 March 2016). "I have no choice but to fight on, says garden centre owner on borough enforcement notice". Twyford Advertiser. Baylis Media Ltd. Retrieved 18 March 2016. The council's view is that the owner has failed to make any attempt to comply with the planning regulations and that the planning applications and planning appeal are an attempt to avoid the planning regulations and delay compliance with the notice.
^ May 1 Compliance Archived 23 March 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Hare Hatch Sheeplands, Retrieved 13 April 2017
^ "Judge says Hare Hatch garden centre battle was 'unjust'". InYourArea.co.uk. 14 June 2018. Retrieved 27 February 2019.