Second refusal recommendation for 215-home Harvest Hill plan

Bray Parish Council has once again recommended refusal for 215 homes near Harvest Hill – after the developer submitted some alternate plans to its earlier submission.

Taylor Wimpey UK Ltd is looking to build the 215 homes ranging from one-bedroom apartments to five-bedroom houses on land south of Harvest Hill Road in Maidenhead, off Kimbers Lane – which has been earmarked for development in the Borough Local Plan.

It forms part of the ‘South West Maidenhead’ development area covering the golf course and surrounding green spaces.

The original application was submitted in March and not well-received by Bray Parish Council, which recommended it for refusal.

In mid-July, the company put forward some amended plans.

The applicant said this followed an ‘extensive period of discussions’ with the council and consultees.

Changes include revisions to the orientation of apartment blocks and work to reduce the ‘dominance of car parking’.

On Monday night (August 7), councillors once again spurned the application.

BPC emphasised its previous comments over the ‘inappropriate scale, design, density, height and layout’ of this proposal, in comparison to adjacent application for 47 homes (ref 22/02821).

The parish council considers that there is ‘still insufficient provision for parking for the number of houses.’

It says it ‘cannot recommend approval without more information on the impact of increased traffic pressure on Harvest Hill Road, the Braywick roundabout and the A308 into Maidenhead town centre.’

This includes ‘the increase in HGV traffic of up to 50 HGVs a day to and from the recycling centre off Kimbers Lane.’

An expansion to this waste transfer site was approved on appeal in March.

“Despite an assurance from the applicant that there is no badger presence on this site, BPC remains deeply concerned about the impact on wildlife in the area,” BPC wrote.

It is hoped that this application ‘will become subject to the proposed new Sustainability Checklist which is currently undergoing consultation within RBWM.’

A Taylor Wimpey spokesperson said: “We have worked closely with officers at the Royal Borough throughout the planning process to ensure we deliver high quality new homes that are in line with the housing needs for the area. We will continue to work with the council to ensure that our proposals for a new development on land south of Harvest Hill Road meet their requirements.”

To see all documents relating to this application, see reference 23/00511 in the Windsor and Maidenhead planning portal.