South Bucks planning round-up: Stoke Poges office to become 14 flats

Here are the latest and most significant planning applications in South Bucks, Marlow and surrounding areas. For more details, enter their reference numbers into publicaccess.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/online-applications 

Approved: Approval has been granted to convert the upper floor of an office into 14 flats in Stoke Poges.

This plan is for Building 5 within Sefton Park, Bells Hill, and the applicant is Sefton Park Ltd.

Sefton Park is a former corporate campus on the edge of Stoke Poges, originally developed after the Second World War and redeveloped in the 1980s.

The site has been in long-term commercial use, with planning permission dating back to 1989 for office buildings.

Since then, various applications have been made across the wider site, though none directly affecting Building 5 until now.

Building 5 is a two-storey brick office block with parking and access from the estate road.

A number of recent proposals at Sefton Park have sought to convert other office buildings to housing under permitted development rights.

For Building 5, the ground floor will stay in commercial use, while the vacant first floor will become flats. No external changes are proposed.

The developer says the change will reduce traffic and that enough parking will remain available.

The site falls within a ‘Zone of Influence’ for a protected wildlife area, meaning a payment will be made to offset any environmental impact.

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Approved: Work can go ahead to build a farm road within a plant-growing business in Farnham Royal that provides trees and shrubs for the film industry.

Bucks council has said it is fine for the developer to put in this new 5m-wide track at Crown Lane Nursery in Crown Lane.

The track will be made up of different layers of crushed stone and a protective fabric layer underneath if needed to stop the stones from mixing with the soil.

It will provide safe, year-round access for tractors and machinery across the nursery, which grows and supplies specimen trees and shrubs, mainly for the film industry.

The new track will link to existing routes within the nursery to improve access to new planting areas.

The council accepted that the track is reasonably necessary for agricultural use.

This means the work can go ahead without a full planning application, provided it is completed within five years and follows the approved plans.

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Approved: A listed building application has been submitted for repair works to Shepherds Close, a Grade II listed house in Village Road, Dorney.

The proposal covers essential maintenance, with no extensions or changes to the layout. The project is focused on heritage repairs.

Although Shepherds Close appears to date from the 1500s, research shows it was largely rebuilt in the 1920s by local builder Thomas Quarterman, who remodelled several houses in Dorney using reclaimed materials.

Much of the timber, brick and roof work reflects this period rather than genuine Tudor construction.

The repair programme includes careful restoration of the timber frame, using new oak only where existing material cannot be saved.

The work will be led by specialist craftsmen experienced in traditional joinery.

Windows will be repaired or replaced on a like-for-like basis, with metal casements and leaded lights refurbished and retained wherever possible.

Masonry repairs will involve redoing the mortar between the bricks with lime mix and replacing any damaged bricks with matching ones.

Roof repairs will fix loose tiles and crumbling mortar using lime and matching clay tiles.

Some cement around the roof joints will be replaced with lead to stop leaks.

Gutters and pipes will be fixed or replaced to help water drain properly, with extra downpipes added if needed.

The ground around the house will be lowered a bit to stop damp, and gravel will be added next to the walls.

The aim is to preserve the house’s historic character while ensuring it remains in sound condition.

Buckinghamshire council granted conditional approval for these works.

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Approved: Listed building consent has been granted to replace numerous windows at Theatre Barn in Woodburn Common Road, Taplow.

This is Grade II listed former barn dating from the 18th or 19th century.

The building, once part of The Albany Country Club, was converted into a home in the 1980s and extended in 2013.

 It is built of brick and timber frame with wattle and daub panels, a clay tile roof and modern additions over time.

The application proposes replacing 21 windows and one door on the south, east and west sides of the property.

The new timber windows would come from Timber Windows, a supplier whose products have been accepted on other listed properties in the region.

The replacements would match the existing windows in size and design but use slimline double glazing to improve insulation and weather resistance.

The only visual change would be the removal of leaded lattice and stained glass in four windows, which are described as worn and impractical to reuse.

The work is needed because many of the current wooden frames are rotten, poorly maintained and no longer weatherproof.

Several windows cannot open or close properly, causing draughts, heat loss and the risk of further structural damage.

No changes are proposed to the shape or position of any openings. Each new window will be made to measure and fitted in exactly the same place as the one it replaces.

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Approved: Bucks council has granted permission to demolish a house and build two semi-detached homes with parking and gardens in Stoke Poges.

Plans are for 17 Sefton Paddock, a small residential cul-de-sac off Hollybush Hill.

The plot is about 0.07 hectares and currently contains a two-storey brick house with a garage.

Earlier applications sought extensions and a garage but were either refused or never built.

A more recent plan to replace the house with two semi-detached homes was refused in May due to concerns about the design and the absence of an agreement to address the impact on Burnham Beeches Special Area of Conservation.

The new proposal again seeks two semi-detached houses but with several changes.

The building would be around 9.2m high – about 1.4m lower than before – and set back 15m from the road.

Dormer windows – which stick out from a sloping roof – have been replaced with skylights, and more landscaping is included at the front.

Each home would have three bedrooms on the first floor and two in the roof space, with living areas downstairs. Rear gardens span about 10–12m from the house.

The existing access would be kept and the parking would serve four to six cars at the front. No parking problems have been identified in the area, the applicant said.

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Approved: Approval has been granted to turn two redundant farm buildings at a piggery in Stoke Poges into two homes.

High Farm, Duffield Lane is a three-hectare site with a long farming history dating back to the 1940s, when it was used for chickens, pigs and later cattle.

The two buildings concerned were once a piggery and a storage barn, both now disused.

They are mainly brick-built and considered structurally sound enough for conversion without major rebuilding.

Under the approved plans, the piggery will be converted into two dwellings, and the storage building into two more, each under 100sqm.

A previous approval on the same site already allowed one larger conversion, making five homes in total.

The council agreed that the buildings meet the permitted development criteria – they are not listed, not in a flood zone, have safe access, and were in agricultural use before 2013.

Most work will be internal, with only new doors and windows added.

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Approved: Buckinghamshire Council has approved plans to convert the loft at Bryony House, 3-5 Church Street, Burnham, to create three extra HMO units.

The building is already in use as a house in multiple occupation, meaning it is shared by several unrelated tenants.

The new units will be formed in the roof space, increasing the number of rooms without changing the basic footprint of the building.

Work must start within the next three years and be carried out in line with the approved plans.

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