MAJOR plans to add up to 1,000 homes at a ‘landmark’ factory could be approved by councillors next week.

Existing buildings and structures at the former Akzo Nobel Decorative Paints site on Wexham Road, Slough, could be demolished to make way for up to 1,000 homes as well as shops, restaurants, leisure, and non-residential institutions.

Next Wednesday (August 26) an extraordinary planning meeting will be held for councillors to vote on the application where officers have recommended for this scheme to be approved.

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The flats and commercial units will be located on the southern part of the brownfield site – which include:

  • 338 one-bedrooms – 34 per cent affordable
  • 377 two-bedrooms – 38 per cent affordable
  • 243 three bedrooms – 24 per cent affordable
  • 42 four bedrooms – four per cent affordable

Planning officers at Slough Borough Council said the percentage of affordable housing for three and four bed units are not in line with the ‘local housing needs assessment’ – but has resulted in an over provision of one and two bed units being affordable.

Five per cent of the flats will be wheelchair accessible.

Slough Observer:

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Car parking between 0.35 and 0.5 per unit will be added as well as new roads, footways, tree planting – as some mature trees will be removed – and pedestrian access to the south via Wexham Road and Uxbridge Road.

General industry, storage or distribution, and data centre with parking will be located on the northern part of the site.

In the report, it states the development could offer 660 onsite jobs.

If approved, the developer Panattoni – an international real estate company – will make a total financial contribution of over £1.6 million on a travel plan to help mitigate air pollution and improve sustainable transport.

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This includes improving walking and cycling infrastructure from the site to the town centre, implementing an electric cycle hire station, including electric car charging points, and adding bicycle parking to all flats.

The Akzo Nobel site, Slough’s iconic Horlicks factory, and the Langley business centre were all identified for housing as part of the council’s ‘preferred spatial strategy’.

These sites could offer more than 7,000 homes collectively as the council aims to meet a housing target of 550 houses per year by 2036.

The land went for sale in June 2019 where Panattoni bought it for an undisclosed sum.