MORE pitches will be added to a traveller site – this is just one of the many planning applications submitted or determined by Slough Borough Council or the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead.
To view more details for each application, go to the respective council’s planning portal with the reference number attached.
Seven pitches to be erected at a gypsy and travellers’ site at Datchet Common, Horton Road, Datchet (20/01790/FULL).
Planning officers at the Royal Borough approved plans for developers to create seven more pitches to accommodate one caravan each at the site.
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There will parking provision for up to two vehicles per pitch on the site.
Plans were designed to minimise the visual impact by the siting of pitches away from the properties on Cobb Close and Horton Road.
Building a warden’s pitch and children’s play area is also incorporated into the scheme.
Whilst the site sits on the greenbelt, the developer argues this application is a ‘very special circumstance’ that outweighs the harm due to the shortage of gypsy and travellers’ sites in the borough.
A wave of objectors disagreed with this ‘special circumstance’ argument and urged officers to refuse the plans.
Ward councillor Ewan Larcombe, who has lived in Datchet since 1977, quoted planning policy, stating: “Traveller sites (temporary or permanent) in the Green Belt are inappropriate development.
“Subject to the best interests of the child, personal circumstances and unmet need are unlikely to clearly outweigh harm to the Green Belt and any other harm so as to establish very special circumstances.”
One resident wrote: “A housing site for seven residences hardly qualifies as an extraordinary situation.
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“It would be far better to reclaim land which has already been developed, and protect the open land, which is increasingly under threat, particularly in this overly-crowded part of the country.”
However, Datchet Parish Council did not object, believing this new plan is an ‘improvement’ for residents from the last scheme.
Construction of two semi-detached homes following demolition of existing house at 8 The Crescent Maidenhead (21/00687/FULL).
Developers wanted to demolish the existing bungalow for two 2.5 storey homes with two car parking spaces each.
However, they withdrew their plans following a wave of objections, a petition, and a ward councillor ‘calling it in’ to the Royal Borough’s planning panel if it was approved.
They objected to the scheme on the grounds the homes would be out of keeping with the ‘Victorian and Edwardian’ street scene and developing that small site would cause an overdevelopment.
One resident wrote: “The proposed building of two semi-detached houses is too large a development of this site and would seriously impact the light and privacy of neighbouring properties, particularly those at 6 and 10 The Crescent and especially the property behind at number 2.
“The development will also seriously impact the character of the road which is predominantly properties built in the Victorian era and 1920’s/30’s. On another note, the current bungalow is architecturally unique as it was one, if not the first wooden clad properties with an American style covered porch to be built in Maidenhead. Its pointless demolition would be a sad loss to the community.”
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