EVERY day might feel like Groundhog Day at the moment with most people stuck indoors due to the coronavirus lockdown.
It won’t help, then, that this week’s planning-round up starts just like last week’s did.
That’s because more details have been revealed for the new gym at Sandhurst’s old Waitrose, and because more info has been made available about proposals for 300 homes in Warfield.
But this week’s roundup, unlike last week’s, doesn’t cover the major planning decisions in Bracknell Forest -- instead, we’re taking a look at some of the smaller, more interesting ones yet to be decided.
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Full details of each application can be found by entering the planning reference at planapp.bracknell-forest.gov.uk/online-applications
190 homes in Finchampstead (20/00235/OBS)
This one isn’t a planning application submitted to Bracknell Forest Council.
However, it has appeared in their planning portal because Wokingham Borough Council has asked the authority’s development bosses for their views on the designs because of the proximity of the site to the borough.
Developers want to build 190 homes and create suitable alternative natural greenspace at land south-east of Finchampstead Road.
The homes would range in size from one to four-bedroom and 67 of these would be made affordable.
A planning statement from applicants read: “The layout suggests that the site can comfortably accommodate 190 dwellings, a suitable amount of publicly accessible open space, play space, appropriate landscaping and allowance for required drainage features, along with a quantity of suitable Accessible Natural Greenspace.
This application is already attracting interest -- and opposition -- from residents likely to be affected by the development.
One wrote: “I strongly to this planning application.
“Wokingham doesn't need any more houses, it's already overdeveloped and has lost almost all the green parks because of it.
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“Please stop building houses in Wokingham and build surgeries and schools instead because they are overcrowded and it's ridiculous and embarrassing for this Council.”
Changes at a protected building in Binfield (20/00190/FUL)
The Hall at Binfield Park could be extended to its side and its rear.
Minor works are also planned for the ground floor and the first floor.
Because the building is listed, however, that means it is protected and those in charge of the site need special planning permission from Bracknell Forest Council (BFC) before any changes can be made.
Changes to plans for seven homes in Winkfield (20/00186/FUL)
Developers already have permission to build five-bedroom homes on Chavey Down Road.
To do this, three buildings would have to be knocked down.
A new application has been submitted to expand the site boundary for soft landscaping works.
Changes at Bracknell’s Capitol building (20/00192/A)
US software firm Perforce is setting up base Oldbury’s Capitol building, just off Berkshire Way.
The office space is set to be adorned with a big ‘Perforce’ sign after designers submitted a planning application to BFC.
Designers Oaktree interiors are getting set to decorate their 7,000 sq ft base on the second floor of the building and transform it into a “bespoke environment geared towards improving all aspects of the working experience.”
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Perforce is currently based in Wokingham and is relocating to Bracknell, according to Oaktree Interiors.
The software firm has operations in Germany, Sweden and Finland, too.
A new house at a farm in Binfield (20/00239/OBS)
Bosses at Foxley Farm on Foxley Lane could soon have a house built at their property.
Developers want to add a 4-bedroom home to the Binfield site.
This would come following the demolition of the existing dwelling and other outbuildings.
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