A self-homebuilder made an emotional plea to councillors to let her build her ‘dream house’ in Winkfield, after spending her ‘life savings’ on the land.

Mrs G Parke already has permission to build a single storey kit house on a plot of land on Mushroom Castle in Winkfield Row. She then asked Bracknell Forest Council if she could change the plans so that the house would be slightly larger.

But she had to plead her case to councillors after neighbours said the new house would be too large. She told the council’s planning committee she had done ‘everything’ to appease neighbours after ‘much controversy'.

Mrs Parke said: “I am a self-builder and I bought the plot with my life savings. I have compromised my wish for my dream house by adhering to the officers’ advice in reducing the scheme and the development.

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“I have consulted all the way through this application and it has been quite taxing mentally when I was already exhausted through supporting this through the pandemic.”

A neighbour – whose name wasn’t given at the committee – said the new house would be an ‘overly large property’ that would be ‘squeezed’ into ‘an extremely small plot'.

She pointed out that Mrs Parke’s original plans – for a two-storey house – had been rejected by Bracknell Forest Council in 2020.

She added that neighbours were then ‘disappointed’ that plans for a one and a half storey house were approved in 2022. And she said the proposed changes to that were ‘a step back towards that 2020 refusal'.

But Mrs Parke said she had been to visit each one of her neighbours, and that she would be ‘probably the best neighbour they could ever have'.

She argued that there would be enough space around the house – meaning it wouldn’t appear cramped or encroach on anyone’s privacy. She said: “I’m a very private person and I’m a very discrete person.”

Planning officers recommended that councillors approve the application as the changes would not 'unacceptably affect’ neighbours or the appearance of the area.

Some councillors on the committee said they didn’t like the idea of ‘infilling’ plots of land between houses – but that they had no choice but to allow the plans.

Councillor Patrick Smith said: “I do personally find these kind of infill developments rather unpalatable. I am very sympathetic to the neighbouring properties who are objecting to it.

“They don’t best serve our communities by sort of filling in every available gap like this. However we do obviously have to acknowledge that national planning policy permits this and indeed encourages residential infill.”

Councillors voted to approve the plans at a meeting on Thursday, February 22.