A fresh plan has been submitted to transform Bracknell Town Football Club’s old ground into a housing development after a fight to get the previous homes plan approved.
Bracknell Town FC’s owning company The SB Group won approval for three apartment blocks in May 2022, but now a fresh plan has been submitted.
The original plan was for 126 apartments within three blocks at the former stadium ground in Larges Lane, Bracknell.
But the new proposal involves retaining two apartment blocks but removing one so that 26 homes can be built instead, bringing housing on the site down to 88.
The apartment blocks would contain 64 flats between them, the new houses being divided into terraces of three and four homes. That’s a decrease of 29 homes.
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The change is remarkable as the football club had difficulties getting the first scheme approved.
An initial plan for 126 apartments was rejected by Bracknell Forest Council’s planning committee when it was first discussed in March 2022, due to councillor concerns over the loss of the stadium and the impact the development would have on traffic and parking.
At the time, club owner Kayne Steinborn-Busse said the decision would put the club “on the brink of extinction.”
The plan was subsequently revised with flat numbers reduced to 117, which was approved in May 2022.
The fresh application reference 23/00031/OUT, appeared on Bracknell Forest Council’s planning portal in January.
Mr Steinborn-Busse said: “It is a better scheme commercially and is far more sympathetic to our neighbours.
“We worked closely with the immediate neighbours to refine the previous scheme to ensure their thoughts and feelings could be considered and implemented in this new scheme.
“It is a mixed scheme of Houses and apartments, so we have had to reduce the overall number to accommodate the three and four-bed houses that are proposed.”
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In total, the development would provide 37 two-bedroom and 27 one-bedroom apartments, and 13 four-bedroom and 11 three-bedroom houses.
Mr Steinborn-Busse confirmed that the ground has not been sold yet, and the intention remains to secure planning permission for a developer to deliver the homes.
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The SB Group serves as both a football club and an educational institution through the SB Academy, which provides A-Level, BTEC and NCFE courses.
The SB Group wants planning permission for the development to sell the land and fund its educational activities.
Previously, Mr Steinborn-Busse said a ground sale is ‘crucial’ to The SB Group's ambitious plans to set academy students ‘up for life’ by providing educational and career opportunities to them as well as helping to launch their football career.
Bracknell Town FC, nicknamed the Robins, moved to Bottom Meadow football ground in Sandhurst in summer 2021.
The Robins play in the Isthmian League Southern South division and are currently fourth in the table.
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