PLANS to build ten flats in Sunningdale have been shelved after they were thrown out by the council.

The Royal Borough refused to give developers the green light for building at Bluebells Restaurant and Bar on London Road despite having already given applicants permission to build eight flats at the site in July 2018.

But developers asked for approval to build two more flats at the site in November 2018, where the restaurant has already been demolished and work on building ground floor flats has already begun. 

The new proposal was refused after planning officers outlined how the development of the flats would have had "a greater impact on the openness of the Green Belt" than the previous application. 

A Royal Borough report suggested applicants did not show any reason for the plans to be accepted under special circumstances either.

All of the flats were set to have two-bedrooms but the council would not approve the proposal after developers offered to contribute a ‘commuted sum’ to the authority for off-site affordable housing rather than provide cheaper homes on site.

The report claimed this offer was not “robustly justified”.

Three species of ground-nesting birds were likely to have been negatively affected by the building work and applicants did not show sufficient plans to help mitigate the impact on the conservation site.

Sunningdale Parish Council had also raised concerns about the impact of the building on the openness of the green belt and the lack of affordable housing at a meeting in November 2018.

The existing buildings at the site have already been demolished as part of the plans but the new homes would have featured a similar design to the former restaurant building.

More than 20 car parking spaces were proposed to accompany the site – down from the 48 spaces used by Bluebells restaurant.

The decision to refuse the plans came from the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead (RBWM) on Wednesday, May 1.