Councillors came together to reject a divisive proposal to turn an office building that has not been used since 2009 into 68 new homes.

A planning application for the two-storey office building at Beaufort Park to be demolished as part of the plans had been rejected in April and the council considered it again on Thursday (October 11) after the proposal was changed.

However planning committee members deemed the changes not good enough as concerns remained over the closing of the gap between Wokingham and Bracknell, the isolation of the site and the potential loss of green space and office availability.

Cllr Dale Birch said: “I believe we still have a very viable refusal motion.

“The effect of 68 dwellings in place of where there is one office block could lead to more harm.

“The principles we have established have not been remedied.”

Cllr Jim Finney said he found it “astonishing that this application has come back to us so quickly” after a planning officer said there was “very little” change between this application and the application submitted in April.

The two-storey office at Beaufort Park has not been occupied by tenants since it was built in 2009.

A speaker representing the owners of the office told the council “there have been very few offers at all” for the site, adding that no organisation has “come forward with a viable offer.”

However Julia Evans, the chief executive of BSRIA, a non-profit research organisation that specialises in the building industry, told the council her company had made two offers to move in there.

Ms Evans, whose organisation already employs more than 200 people in Bracknell, said: “There is commercial demand for this building as BSRIA is serious about moving in there.”

Cllr Ian Leake supported the application and he said: “I realise there is a lot of emotion around this and I can understand the sensitivities from people involved in this.

“I see no reason at all why a sensible development should not take place.”

However the proposals were also slammed by Cllr Mary Temperton, who said: “I would rather have what’s there now rather than more houses.

“We need to keep as much green space as we can round there.”

After hearing all the arguments councillors voted to refuse the application eight votes to two.