Residents have objected to ‘dangerous’ approved plans to build 40 new houses in Binfield.
Development is set to go ahead at the site, situated on the land north Of Tilehurst Lane, having previously been rejected by Bracknell Forest Council’s planning committee but allowed after a successful appeal in October 2019.
The proposal had previously been refused twice on the grounds of drainage, owing to a risk of flooding in the area, but a subsequent drainage strategy put forward by the applicant was deemed to comply with the appeals decision.
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Outline planning permission had been granted, but the proposal was back before the committee last week to vote on reserved matters –specific details relating to the application – namely appearance, landscaping, layout and scale.
Furious residents have objected to the plan on multiple grounds including infringements on their privacy, flooding, insufficient visitors parking and increased traffic.
Neighbour, Sarah Cotton, said: “There are numerous mentions of the ‘views through to Binfield Park.’ These views the developers are espousing will actually be into privately owned gardens.
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“It does not appear that any consideration has been given to the privacy of the homeowners who currently live [here].”
Another neighbour, Ted Hall, noted that the roundabout on Tilehurst Lane is “adjacent to [a] children’s nursery” and that delivery vans reversing from roundabout into the nursery would “cause danger.”
In response to prior objections raised about the plans, the applicant made alterations to the proposal including changes to the affordable housing and parking provisions.
The approved outline divides the 40 two-storey brick homes into 30 open market properties (75 per cent), consisting of two five-bedroom, six four-bedroom, 11 three-bedroom and 11 two-bedroom units – and ten (25 per cent) for affordable housing.
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These will be made up of one four-bedroom, two three-bedroom and two two-bedroom houses, as well as one two-bedroom and four one-bedroom apartments.
Each plot will have parking spaces including garages, car ports and electric vehicle charging points, as well as a parking court at the eastern end of the site and ten spaces allocated for visitor parking.
Whilst the reserved matters had been deemed not to inhibit the draining strategy, the conditions of the appeal decision required the submission of a detailed drainage scheme in accordance with the strategy – which had not been brought in front of the committee.
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Committee member, councillor Ankur Shiv Bhandari, said: “We don’t have that detail and, given the complaints raised by residents previously and the risk of flooding in this area, unless we have those details, I don’t think we should be approving this application.
Subsequently, a motion to defer until the drainage strategy detail is ready was brought forward, which carried.
The plan will now be put before a future committee when the information is available.
The developer was approached for comment.
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