Contentious plans to build 81 new homes in Bracknell have been given the green light. 

Approval was granted to Shanly Homes, a development company from Beaconsfield, to renovate Palm Hills estate on London Road - following the demolition of two homes currently standing at the site. 

Of the 81 homes, nine are set to be four-bedrooms, 49 three-bedrooms, eight two-bedrooms and 15 one-bedrooms.  

Bracknell News:

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61 of the 81 homes consist of split-level dwellings, with the remaining 20 homes being apartments within a single four storey building, located within the north-east corner of the site. 

Parking spaces for 156 cars are planned as well as a new access point from London Road, meaning some trees will need to be removed. 

The proposal also includes areas for waste and cycle storage provision, residential curtilages, surface water drainage measures and areas of open space - of which the largest area is to the east of the site running north to south. 

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The council had rejected the proposal back in 2020 after the developers refused to include affordable homes as part of the plans. 

Bracknell Forest Council has a policy that large housing developments should come with at least 25 per cent affordable housing. 

Nevertheless, an independent property consultant suggested in a report that the development would not be financially viable if affordable houses were provided so zero were included in the plans. 

However, after appeal the plans have been approved despite still lacking in affordable homes provisions. 

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The site lies to the east of Bracknell and is midway between Bracknell and Ascot town centres, just south of the council’s historic landfill site known locally as the ‘Old London Road Tip.’ 

Both residents and the authority suggested the proximity to the old tip could be dangerous as new homeowners could be exposed to contamination from the site. 

But planning officers quashed this suggestion, indicating applicants have proven the site would be safe. 

Development is set to begin later this year, according to Shanly Homes.