A plan for apartments at a former church  site in Bracknell described as a ‘wasteland’ has been approved.

The Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth had applied to build 15 apartments on the site of the former St Margaret Clitherow Roman Catholic Church, Ringmead.

The plan was lauded by members of Bracknell Forest Council’s planning committee, with one councillor describing the site as a ‘wasteland.’

Councillor Thomas Parker (Liberal Democrat) said: “I think this is a really good use of a brownfield site, as alluded to in the officers report, this site is pretty much a wasteland at the moment so it would be a really good development, it’s great we’ve go affordable in there. I’m going to support this application.”

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The catholic church was closed in 2011 after being the repeated target of metal thieves.

The building was then levelled in 2012, and has been a dormant site ever since.

Heaping praise on the plan, Cllr Michael Brossard (Conservative), the vice-chairman of the committee, said: “It’s an extremely imaginative scheme given that this is going to be in a very focal position between two main roads. It’s in a very prominent position from the highway.  I do like the palette of materials that are proposed… I think if it’s approved this will actually be an iconic building and it’s one that I fully support.”

Bracknell News: A view of what the apartments will look like once built. The plan was submitted by the Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth.A view of what the apartments will look like once built. The plan was submitted by the Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth.

The scheme was approved by 15 votes, with Cllr Tricia Brown (Labour) abstaining.

Giving the reasons for her abstention, Cllr Brown said: “If you look at the pictures on Google, you see that the tall trees are quite sparse…It also worries me that this is a very tall building, a five-storey building, on what is higher ground than anything else around. So I think it will be out of place really, I’m sorry to say – I like the building very much and everything about it, except it’s too tall in this location. I just feel that it is going to be too much, frankly.”

Of the 15 apartments, six will be one-bedroom and nine will be two-bedroomed.  Three of the apartments would be reserved for affordable rent, and one would be reserved for shared ownership, making a total of four affordable homes.

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A total of 27 car parking spaces are also included in the plans, as well as cycle and motorcycle storage. There will be 14 surface parking spaces and 13 in the basement of the building. At least five of the car parking spaces (20 per cent) will be adapted for electric vehicles, which Cllr Brossard said he was “delighted” by during the meeting.

The plan was approved at a meeting of Bracknell Forest Council’s planning application committee on Thursday, April 22.

You can follow the meeting as it unfolded in this Twitter thread below:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Bracknell Forest Council's Planning Committee is in session. The first order of business is an application to fell four trees with Tree Protection Orders (TPOs) on land adjacent to 18 Lyon Oaks, Warfield (app PS 20/00263/TRTPO)</p>— James Aldridge (@jamesAjourno) <a href="https://twitter.com/jamesAjourno/status/1385287277270769670?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 22, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

A plan to build 14 three storey, three bedroom houses on the site was withdrawn by the Diocese of Portsmouth in June 2019.

It is understood much of the congregation moved to attend the Saint Joseph Roman Catholic Church in Braccan Walk, Bracknell town centre.