Maidenhead golf course development to be voted on
The council is being recommended to approve 1500 new homes on Maidenhead golf course
Hugely controversial plans to build 1,500 homes on a golf course could be granted approval in a vote at the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead this week.
Property developer Cala Homes wants permission to build the new neighbourhood on Maidenhead Golf Course.
The development is at the heart of a troubled and contested land sale agreement between the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead and Cala Homes.
Almost 200 letters objecting to the plans have been submitted to the council – with some warning that the development would be ‘catastrophic’.
Many objections fear the loss of a ‘green lung’ for Maidenhead – and warn of potential new flooding risks.
One says: “Recent flooding has shown the delicate balance between increasing rain events and drainage.
“The removal of the huge sponge the golf course represents will undoubtedly increase the flooding risk in Maidenhead.”
Another objection says development in Maidenhead is ‘destroying the look’ of the town.
It says: “The design of the houses in Cala Homes’ application looks frankly depressing and unimaginative.
“With the hideous new apartment blocks opposite the council and the dreadful towers, why are we wilfully destroying the look of Maidenhead?
“It resembles parts of south-east London.
“And five and six-storey blocks of flats on the golf course site would be the final nail in the coffin.”
Local plan
Planning officers are recommending that councillors vote to approve the plans.
They note that the site was allocated for housing in the Royal Borough’s local plan – which sets out where development should take place, and which was approved by the planning inspectorate.
They say the proposal is consistent with the council’s development policies and that because of a shortfall of identified housing land, they can only recommend refusal if the harms of the development are both ‘significant’ and ‘demonstrable’.
The officers’ report says: “Officers acknowledge that a multitude of letters of objection received throughout the consultation period, which raise alternative views to the policies contained within the development plan.
“It is not uncommon for schemes of this size and nature to generate such interest, but the quantum of responses is not a determinative factor and rather the material planning considerations raised.”
They also say that several benefits – such as an increased housing supply, and new community facilities, shops and a health centre – add ‘significant weight in favour of the development’.
Council flood officers have also reviewed the plans and say they are confident that the proposed drainage scheme is sufficient.
The application is for outline planning permission – meaning that if approved, further approval will be needed for specifics such as road layout, design and landscaping.
Councillors are to vote on whether to give it outline planning approval at a meeting of the Windsor development management committee on Thursday, February 13.