Big changes will be coming to the historic Binfield House after plans for building and new homes on the site were approved.
The applicant, Beechcroft Developments Ltd applied to make extensive internal changes to the building.
Binfield House currently has 16 flats inside of it, but now plans have been approved, the house will be refitted to provide nine apartments.
Of those, eight will be two-bedroom and one will be one-bedroom.
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On the outside of the house, an existing fire escape stairwell and a rear extension will be demolished. A lift inside the building will replace the fire escape.
The biggest changes involve the demolition of a row of six bungalows and replacing them with nine 1.5 storey terraced houses. Therefore a total of 18 homes have been provided as part of the plan, with all of them being reserved for retirement living for those aged 55 and upwards.
The scheme was welcomed by members of the planning committee.
Councillor Michael Brossard (Conservative, Central Sandhurst) said: “This is a positive step in the right direction, there’ll be fewer flats, but those flats will be larger, and I’m very pleased that the features that are part of the Grade II listed building are being retained in their present format and what is proposed is going to benefit the building significantly.”
Additionally, Cllr Dr Gareth Barnard (Conservative, Warfield Harvest Ride) said: “This is a really important application because it really does secure the long term future of Binfield House and actually it gives an opportunity to restore some of those internal features. It gives a sustainable future to the site.
“The removal of the extraneous items which have disfigured the building over time does give this a very good new lease of life. I want to thank all of those involved who have tried to do a sympathetically and sensitively as possible, worked to achieve a viable planning solution.”
Cllr Colin Dudley (Conservative, Crown Wood) added an informative that the Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service be consulted over the removal of the external fire escape stairwell.
Neighbours were concerned about the toll construction vehicles will take on the surrounding roads, particularly Hall Garden and Wicks Green which are both single track roads.
A condition of the approval was that no building will take place until safe and suitable access for construction vehicles is agreed to in writing by Bracknell Forest Council’s planning department.
Beechwood Developments Ltd must also make a S106 legal agreement with the council, which involves making monetary contributions to pay for council services and mitigate the impact of the development.
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It is understood construction vehicles will use Hall Garden and Wicks Green will be used to access the site.
The scheme was approved unanimously at a virtual advisory meeting of Bracknell Forest Council’s planning committee on Thursday, August 19.
You can see a list of all the decisions made at the meeting in this Twitter thread:
Results from Bracknell Forest Council's advisory planning committee last night follow. The meeting was held virtually at 6.30pm on Thursday, August 19.
— James Aldridge (@jamesAjourno) August 20, 2021
You can view what’s included in the scheme in full by typing reference 21/00023/FUL into Bracknell Forest Council’s planning portal here: https://planapp.bracknell-forest.gov.uk/online-applications/ .
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