Church will be converted into home in Berkshire village

Winkfield Row Methodist Church will now become a one-bedroom home in a plan that was praised by councillors.

The conversion was approved by Bracknell Forest Council’s planning committee yesterday (Thursday, September 16).

Councillor Michael Brossard (Conservative,  Central Sandhurst), vice-chair of the committee called the conversion ‘laudable’.

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He said: “This is currently a redundant building and after three years there would be the risk that it would continue to deteriorate, through water entry, and potentially the risk of vandalism.

“I think this is a very laudable proposal that will bring the building back into life and bring a one-bedroom property which will benefit from the enhancements that will be provided.

“I think this really is a win win.”

Cllr Tricia Brown (Labour, Priestwood and Garth) also praised on the scheme.

She said:  “I really applaud the reuse of this building on climate change grounds. It eliminates all the business of taking a building down and building a new one with new materials and that is a very good thing to do in this day and age.”

You can view tweets from the meeting as it happened below: 

#Bracknell Forest Council's planning committee is holding a virtual meeting to decide on a number of plans. Any plans that are contrary to officer recommendations will have to be decided at a physical meeting. You can watch along here https://t.co/UPRPhi1LtS

— James Aldridge (@jamesAjourno) September 16, 2021

There was concern because no off-street parking was provided in the plan, which is against the council’s parking policies.

However, planning officer Olivia Jones said that because the church is currently an F1 use, it could theoretically be re-used as a church, school, library or art gallery, all of which would have greater parking demands than a one-bedroom home.

Cllr Dorothy Hayes MBE (Conservative, Ascot) seemed to imply that the new occupant could arrange to park at The Don Beni Italian restaurant less than a 100 yards down the road.

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Originally, developer S and J Homes had applied to convert the church into a two bedroom home, but adapted their plans to provide one bedroom instead.

A condition on the approval was that the church can only be used as a one-bedroom dwelling.

The second bedroom would have been where the dressing room and bathroom of the current plan is.

The updated floorplan for the Winkfield Methodist Church conversion. A bathroom and dressing area stands where a second bedroom used to be. Credit: S and J Homes / Bracknell Forest Council

Four neighbours wrote to object, with concerns about  lack of parking. This was why Winkfield Parish Council objected. But these objections were written when the plan was for a two-bedroom conversion.

One neighbour opposed the plan because windows in the proposal overlooked their property. The placement of the windows has been controlled by conditions on the approval. You can see the elevations for the changes in the gallery above.

At the rear, a small extension will be removed to provide a patio with a bike parking space.

Winkfield Row is a hamlet within the civil parish of Winkfield.