Fourteen flats plan in Windsor/Slough greenbelt slammed

Windsor and Maidenhead council has slammed a proposal for 14 new homes on the greenbelt in Horton, Slough – coming up with 10 different reasons for refusal.

BMP Properties Limited was looking to subdivide a house into five flats and add 10 detached and semi-detached homes at Broom Lodge and surrounding land off Stanwell Road.

Creating a net gain of 14 new homes, the developer also offered to include 33 per cent affordable housing within that.

But despite this, RBWM officers decided that the weight of the harm from the scheme ‘significantly and demonstrably outweighs the benefits.’

They classed it as an ‘inappropriate’ development of the greenbelt without the necessary ‘very special circumstances’ needed to justify it.

There were concerns about the ‘excessive scale, height and incongruous external appearance’ of the homes.

It would also entail the loss of 1,205sqm of commercial space and the applicant had not provided any ‘credible/robust evidence’ to show the proposals ‘would not cause unacceptable harm to the local economy.’

There would also be harm to a Grade I building, St Michael’s Church, and the two Grade II Listed Lych Gate, as well as the churchyard wall, opposite the host site.

“The proposal would reduce the openness between the two sites and lessen the architectural and historical interest, by introducing an overdeveloped, suburban layout to the area,” wrote officers.

Moreover, the proximity to the trees ‘is likely to both hinder the[eir] growth potential and give rise to pressure from future occupiers to allow works to the tree to reduce or remove the perceived nuisance.’

These existing trees ‘play an important role in shielding the site from external public views,’ wrote officers.

The homes would also cause overlooking to the neighbouring properties and ‘unacceptable’ levels of overshadowing, enclosure and loss of light to the usable parts of the gardens.

There is also ‘insufficient’ amenity space for future occupants.

The bike and bin store forms an ‘unneighbourly’ feature because of its close proximately to another plot.

As such, the proposed development ‘fails to provide a good standard of accommodation’ for future residents, officers said.

In addition, the proper documents for carbon off-set contributions, biodiversity net gain, and flooding were not submitted, all of which are key RBWM policies.

In its application, the applicant's representatives, Bell Cornwell, called this site 'a mixed use brownfield site' which 'currently detracts from the character and appearance of the predominantly residential area'.

"This proposal offers a unique opportunity to deliver housing on land at lower risk of flooding, whilst significantly improving the visual appearance of the site itself, enhancing the character of the settlement and improving the setting of the Grade I listed St Michael’s Church," they wrote.

Bell Cornwell also believed this proposal was compliant with greenbelt policy, 'given the proposal involves limited infilling within a village.'

They added that the site 'is of very low biodiversity value' at present, having been used for the stockpiling of debris 'for
many years' and being 'heavily covered' by storage containers and hardstanding.

See all plans with reference 23/01387/FULL in the RBWM planning portal.