Berkshire college's 26 family homes plan could be approved

Berkshire College of Agriculture in Burchetts Green want to build 26 houses on a section of its 162-hectare greenbelt land facing Honey Lane.

Approximately 2.3 hectares of that land, which the college owns, could have 20 four-bed family homes as well as six two-bed houses, which are affordable.

Councillors on the Maidenhead development management panel will decide this Wednesday and are only considering outline plans for access, layout, and scale at this stage.

READ MORE: Team GB gold medallist to officially open Windsor's Aldi store

The college offers higher education courses for students aged 16 and over in agriculture and has expanded its curriculum to include equestrian studies, horticulture, floristry, sports and leisure, and public services.

The building, Hall Place, is grade I listed whereas the registered park and garden are grade II listed.

According to the planning officer’s report, this development is to “enable” them to raise funds for “urgent and essential” repairs on Hall Place, which is approaching a condition where it is “beyond the stage” of “reasonable” repair, and the estate’s “many” heritage assets on the site.

However, since the application was submitted, a wave of objections have been lodged from residents and parish councils, fearing it will harm the greenbelt and is an “inappropriate” location as Honey Lane is a “narrow single-track road” with “poor” sightlines.

Layout of the housing scheme

They also had concerns around the additional cars and people would put “too much pressure” on nearby Hurley village.

One local wrote: “It is wrong, and a dangerous precedent to set, to justify building well outside existing settlements, in the Green Belt, on agricultural land, overlooking a conservation area, in a prominent position in the rural countryside of the Thames Valley.”

Thames Valley Police also objected to some aspects of the design and layout, calling it “problematic” in crime prevention, and asked for the homes to be set back from the nearby footpath by up to 2m or have “defensive planting”.

READ MORE: Windsor resident struck by 'toilet sewage' from airplane

Writing in support of the scheme, the CEO of Baylis Media Ltd and governor at the college, Jeremy Spooner wrote: “The proposed will do nothing to detract from the wonderful setting of the college and will help the community in which is set by delivering much-needed housing including low-cost housing for local people.”

Despite the avalanche of objections, planning officers acknowledged it will harm the greenbelt but believe the family housing supply outweighs this impact.

Therefore, they have recommended councillors grant planning permission.