A church council has objected to plans for further development at a site in Bracknell as it would ‘exasperate’ existing problems. 

The Parochial Church Council for Holy Trinity Church has raised concerns that the proposal to build an additional third floor storey and second floor extension to Abbey House at Grenville Place would put increased pressure on parking spaces which they deem ‘already inadequate.’ 

The plan, which would see six further residential units added to the 40 existing flats approved in 2017, was brought before the Bracknell Forest Council planning committee last week. 

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A churchwarden, Angela Evans, said on behalf of the Parochial Church Council: “Even without any further development being undertaken, the current situation is already problematic. 

“The church parking spaces are often used by Abbey House flat owners, their visitors and tradespeople, as the existing parking provision is inadequate for Abbey House. 

“[…] six further flats will mean more cars and more parking spaces being needed, without sufficient extra spaces being available. The proposed six new units will exacerbate the existing parking problems. 

““If additional parking could be made available for Abbey House nearby, without putting pressure on Holy Trinity’s parking situation, then of course that would be agreeable.” 

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The submission outlines a proposal to build four two-bedroom and two one-bedroom flats, without providing any additional parking spaces. There are currently 37 parking spaces on site, with 29 allocated to residents and eight to the church. 

The standard would advise that there should be six additional spaces unless there is robust evidence to show that there is no need for them. 

The highways authority viewed the application and raised no objections based on the parking surveys that were submitted. 

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Planning committee members also raised objections based on parking provisions, but the chair insisted highway safety is ‘not an issue’ due to there being other near-by areas to park. 

The chair, Councillor Colin Dudley, said: “It would be very difficult to turn this application down on parking alone. 

“Our parking standards are there not just to serve people, […] those parking standards are there to protect highway safety. 

“If you are going to vote against this application, I hope you have an alternative motion ready.” 

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The committee members did not have an alternative motion ready, despite being advised to in advance of the meeting, yet still voted against approving the plan. 

After consultation with a legal advisor, who claimed they were “not entirely sure of the way” forward as this situation had not occurred before, a vote was taken on whether to submit an alternative motion and defer it to another meeting at a later date, which passed unanimously.