Changed plans to replace Bracknell Town Football Club’s former ground at Larges Lane are set to be considered by councillors next week.
The club’s owner SB Sport and Education Group already got the green light from councillors in 2022 to build 117 flats at Larges Lane. But now it wants permission for new plans to build 24 houses and 64 flats instead – a change which it hopes neighbours will prefer.
A statement from ET planning consultants said the new plans were designed to reduce the amount and size of new buildings. It also said the mix of houses and flats meant there would be options for families to buy homes too.
It said: “The resubmission is made following ongoing dialogue with members of the surrounding community to achieve a proposed form and design considered preferable to these residents.
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“This has been achieved through a reduction in the number of residential units proposed as apartments within the scheme."
It added: “The revised scheme’s offering of residential dwellings as opposed to a purely apartment scheme therefore offers much-needed family houses in addition to the aforementioned apartments.”
Bracknell Forest Council’s planning committee is set to rule on the plans on Thursday, April 18. The plans were referred to the committee as the council has received 14 letters of objection.
Only four of those letters came from residents near Larges Lane who still had concerns about the height of some of the blocks of flats and an increase in traffic. Another letter from one neighbour welcomed the changes as an improvement on the previous plans.
Most of the other objections came from people living in Sandhurst, where Bracknell Town FC now plays. The club moved to Sandhurst in 2020, saying Larges Lane was not suited to its ambitions for promotion through the steps of the National League.
But the move proved unpopular among some Sandhurst residents who said it brought traffic and noise problems.
One Sandhurst resident asked the council to refuse planning permission in the hope that this would lead Bracknell Town FC to move back to Larges Lane.
They said: “By objecting to this development, it will hopefully stifle the SB Group finances and force them back to Bracknell and take all these dreadful problems back with them to their rightful location.”
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Yet councillors will not be able to consider these concerns as their decision can only be based on whether the development plans are acceptable.
And if the plans are refused, the SB Group may still be able to go ahead with its previously approved plans to build 117 flats.
However it will need to finish a legal agreement with Bracknell Forest Council by April 30 outlining its contribution to local services and affordable housing before permission for the previous plans is formally granted.
Council planning officers say they are satisfied that the new scheme is acceptable, including plans for vehicle access, parking and building height and layout. They are recommending that councillors vote to approve them.
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