MORE than 200 new homes are set to be built in Bracknell town centre despite a previous planning application being refused by the council.

Applicant BBD Homes Ltd. applied to build 246 one and two bedroom flats in an 11-storey building at the former bus depot on Market Street but councillors refused the application in August for a number of reasons.

These included “unacceptable levels of daylight” being received by a number of the apartments, “harmful” car parking plans, issues surrounding affordable housing, concerns around the site’s drainage system and its impact on open space in the area.

However a new planning application has been submitted to the council “which seeks to address the reasons under which a previous scheme on the site was refused”.

A report produced for the council highlights that 102 of the rooms in the building still do not meet the required necessary daylight levels but this is a reduction from the previous application, which if approved, would have seen 170 rooms have poor lighting.

The report read: “A small proportion of the flats will not receive good levels of daylight but this, and the impacts on the amenity of the occupiers of Time Square and the future residents of the redeveloped Amber House site, are considered to be outweighed by the wider benefits of the proposal.”

Other changes include four fewer flats, reducing the total to 242, which now includes more one bedroom flats and fewer two bedroom apartments and a quarter of these will be made affordable.

Three oak trees are set to be removed from the site – which the council’s tree officer deemed “not acceptable” – should the application be approved.

The application will be considered by the council after councillor Colin Dudley called it in due to concerns over a lack of car parking spaces.

The application also shows that 19 more car parking spaces are planned than previously, taking the total to 193.

However more than 300 bicycle spaces are planned for the site.

The council’s planning committee is set to give the application the go-ahead after a council officer recommended it for approval.

The planning committee will meet on Thursday, November 8.