| Country: | England |
| Official Name: | Hare Hatch |
| Coordinates: | 51.4951°N -0.8433°W |
| Map Type: | Berkshire |
| Metropolitan Borough: | Wokingham |
| Metropolitan County: | Berkshire |
| Region: | South East England |
| Post Town: | Reading |
| Postcode District: | RG10 |
| Postcode Area: | RG |
| Dial Code: | 0118 |
| Os Grid Reference: | SU806778 |
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 7miles north-east of Reading. It is close to Twyford, and also lies approximately 6miles 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]
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.