The Maidenhead Development Management Committee met on 18 September 2025 to consider two planning applications for major developments in Maidenhead, as well as to note a report on planning appeals. Councillors Siân Martin, Deputy Mayor, Geoff Hill, Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport & Customer Service Centre, Jack Douglas, Cabinet Member for Communities & Leisure, Kashmir Singh, Gurch Singh, Business Champion, Helen Taylor, Social Housing Champion, and Leo Walters were scheduled to attend. The meeting was scheduled to take place at the Town Hall in Maidenhead, and be broadcast on YouTube.

Planning Application: St Mary's Walk, Maidenhead

The committee was scheduled to consider a planning application for the demolition of an existing four-storey office building at 12 to 17 St Mary's Walk and 24 to 32 High Street, and the redevelopment of the site to provide a new part-five, part-seven storey office building with a basement. The application, submitted by Derno Estates Ltd, included the re-alignment of St Mary's Walk, landscaping, improvements to the public realm, cycle parking and ancillary development.

The report pack noted that the application had been amended during the consultation period, with the height of the northern element of the office building reduced from eight storeys to seven. The eighth floor office area was removed and replaced with plant and acoustic screening, and a steel pergola structure on the communal roof terrace.

The application site is identified within the Borough Local Plan as Site Allocation AL3. The allocation suggests mixed-uses incorporating retail, employment and approximately 300 residential units. The report pack stated that a four-storey retail and residential element fronting onto the High Street is included within the Site Allocation AL3, but no changes were proposed for this part of the site in the current planning application.

The report pack included a recommendation to permit the application, subject to conditions and the completion of a Section 106 agreement¹ to secure:

• A financial contribution of £31,059.86 to the council's Carbon Offset Fund.
• Management company details (including landscaping and drainage on site).
• Green roofs on the office building and planting urban trees within the site.
• Biodiversity Net Gain (on-site provision).
• Occupier-specific travel plan(s).
• The provision of active travel facilities in the cycle hub / repair type facility on the ground floor in the southern 'wing' of the building, including the operational management and access to the cycle hub / repair type facility between the public and the building occupants.
• A Section 106 Agreement monitoring fee of £650.

A Section 278 Agreement was also recommended to secure off-site highway and public realm improvements, including:

• A contribution towards the widening of footways on the High Street between St Ives Road and Queen Street.
• A real-time information (RTI) screen for the bus stop at Sainsbury's.
• Highway improvement works surrounding the site, including footways, kerbs, alignment, drainage, street lighting, landscaping, re-surfacing, road studs, signs and lining, and loading-bay works.

The report pack noted that several letters had been received from interested parties, including residents of St Mary's Walk flats and St Andrew's House, objecting to the proposed development for reasons including noise and disruption during demolition and construction, loss of privacy and sunlight, negative impact on the Conservation Area², and parking issues.

Planning Application: Maidenhead Office Park, Littlewick Green

The committee was also scheduled to consider a planning application for the demolition of existing buildings at Maidenhead Office Park, Westacott Way, Littlewick Green, and the redevelopment of the site for employment buildings within Use Classes E(g), B2 and B8³, with surface car parking, landscaping and associated works. The application was submitted by Ascot House Maidenhead Limited.

The report pack noted that the site is allocated for employment development in the Green Belt⁴ under Policy ED2 of the Borough Local Plan. The proposal results in a scheme that is not in conformity with the Use Classes set out in Policy ED2, given the introduction of a B8 use and the loss of office floorspace. However, the report pack stated that the development seeks to take the land from an under-performing economic use (office) to one where there is a need in the Borough (industrial) as demonstrated through independent review, and this is an overriding public benefit of the scheme.

The report pack included a recommendation to permit the application, subject to conditions and the completion of a Section 106 agreement to secure:

• A contribution to the council's Carbon Offset Fund.
• Delivery and maintenance of biodiversity net gain (off-site provision: Woodoaks Farm to be the supplier of the residual biodiversity units for the Maidenhead Office Park development).
• A Section 106 Agreement monitoring fee of £650.

A Section 278 Agreement was also recommended to secure off-site highway improvements, including:

• Reducing the speed limit on Westacott Way from 50mph to 30mph.
• Traffic calming improvements along Westacott Way.
• A shared priority crossing for pedestrians and cyclists where the PRoW crosses Westacott Way.
• Cycle and pedestrian improvement measures along the southern section of Westacott Way.
• Mitigation measures to reduce the volume of traffic and traffic cutting through Burchetts Green Road.

The report pack noted that six letters of comment were received from residents objecting to the proposed development for reasons including a previous application with high levels of B8 use was refused, a massive increase in traffic flows is being proposed, and the use of Burchetts Green and Burchetts Green Lane as a rat run.

Planning Appeals

The committee was also scheduled to note a report on planning appeals received and appeal decisions made between 9 July 2025 and 10 September 2025. The appeals received included:

• An appeal against the refusal of a loft conversion at 9 Lancaster Road, Maidenhead.
• An appeal against the refusal of a garage conversion and extensions at Vignobles, Old Mill Lane, Bray.
• An appeal against an enforcement notice relating to the use of land for a caravan site at Land To The Side of 16 Halfway Houses, Maidenhead Road, Maidenhead.
• An appeal against the refusal of a certificate of lawfulness for the use of a yard and buildings as a commercial landscape contractors yard at Primrose Farm, Cookham Dean.
• Appeals against the refusal of consent to illuminate the suspension chains and metal supports of Marlow Bridge.
• An appeal against an enforcement notice relating to a pergola at 8 Clare Road, Maidenhead.
• An appeal against the refusal of a first floor extension at 13 Hendons Way, Holyport.

The appeal decisions included:

• An appeal against the refusal of a new detached dwelling at Four Seasons, Ferry Road, Bray, was allowed.
• An appeal against the refusal of a rural workers dwelling at Shottesbrooke Hill Farm, Maidenhead, was allowed.
• An appeal against the refusal of 32 dwellings at Land Between Badgers Wood And Spring Cottage, Maidenhead, was dismissed.
• An appeal against the refusal of an extension at 76 Sheephouse Road, Maidenhead, was allowed.
• An appeal against the refusal of an extension at Tall Timbers, Horton Close, Maidenhead, was allowed.
• An appeal against the refusal of a loft conversion at 26 Rutland Road, Maidenhead, was allowed.
• An appeal against the refusal of an extension at 4 Holly Drive, Maidenhead, was dismissed.
• An appeal against the refusal of an extension at 13 Hendons Way, Holyport, was dismissed.