Plans to build a house in the car park of a ‘busy and popular’ village restaurant have been branded ‘nonsensical’ by neighbours.

But a government planning inspector has already said identical plans were acceptable – overturning a council decision to reject them.

Owners of the Don Beni restaurant want to build a four-bedroom house in its car park on Winkfield Row. But neighbours say the restaurant already attracts noise and traffic problems – and worry the plans will lead diners to park on the street.

Duncan Dimbleby of Little Gable said he was ‘staggered’ by the proposals, in a letter of objection to Bracknell Forest Council. He said: “I am completely staggered at this nonsensical application to build a detached house in what is the car park for this busy restaurant.”

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He added: “We already suffer from this as that's how busy Don Beni's gets. Loud customers leaving the restaurant late at night and having conversations, dropping litter, cigarettes and even glasses outside our homes is commonplace.”

And Kay Buren of Grove Lane told council planning officers: “A car park for a restaurant is there for a purpose, namely to provide adequate parking for diners who wish to eat there.

“At weekends and often on Thursdays, the car park is full and cannot accommodate all the cars which overspill onto the surrounding roads already.”

But a government planning inspector ruled in 2021 that identical plans provided adequate parking spaces after the council refused planning permission.

Councillors on Bracknell Forest’s planning committee rejected the plans in July 2020. They said this was because building the house would reduce the number off-street parking spaces serving Don Beni leading customers to park on the road at ‘peak times.’

Yet restaurant owners lodged an appeal with the government’s planning inspectorate which overturned the council’s decision in January 2021.

The inspector John Longmuir ruled that the plans still left parking spaces for 21 cars. He also noted that the plans included formal parking spaces, which he said was better than the current informal layout that could encourage ‘poor parking'.

Despite the appeal decision, restaurant owners waited too long to begin building the house, meaning the planning permission expired. They have now resubmitted the same plans in order to renew the planning permission.

A planning statement submitted with the application argues that the inspector’s decision means the council must approve the plans again. A public consultation on the plans is open until Saturday, April 13.