Developers submit new application to revamp Maidenhead Office Park

Developers behind controversial proposals to revamp Maidenhead Office Park have submitted a new application after previous plans were rejected on appeal.

In September 2023, the Royal Borough’s development management committee voted against plans to turn the site into a logistics hub, after raising various concerns including the number of HGV movements and the impact on the neighbouring White Waltham Airfield.

The plans proved controversial among residents, who staged a protest during a public inquiry, after Anglesea Capital LLP took the Royal Borough’s decision to appeal.

Following the inquiry, the Planning Inspectorate decided to dismiss the plans in July last year.

Planning inspector Rekha Sabu said the proposal would ‘adversely affect the openness of the greenbelt’ both spatially and visually.

Now, almost a year later, revised plans for the re-development of the site have been submitted to the Royal Borough.

The proposals look to demolish the existing buildings at the site to make way for new employment buildings.

The plans also include surface car parking and service areas, landscaping and associated works.

An application, submitted by Ascot House Maidenhead Limited, said the developer has ‘carefully reviewed the appeal decision’ and carried out a series of revisions to the proposals to ‘address the appeal inspector’s conclusions and concerns’.

This includes reducing the total floorspace by 13,000sqm (23 per cent), from 55,541sqm to 42,541sqm.

The previous plans saw varied maximum building heights across the site, from 12.15m to 15m, and 18m tall in some cases.

But the revised plans feature reduced building heights, which will be set to a maximum of 14m for units two and eight.

Other units are also at a lower height, which is ‘a reduction compared to the appeal scheme parameter of 14m’, the design and access statement said.

The buildings would also feature a ‘curved flowing roofline’ to provide a ‘modern appearance’.

The scheme would involve the demolition of seven existing buildings and clearance of the site, including ‘some tree removal’, the planning statement said.

There would be an overall increase of 169 two-way HGV movements spread throughout the day compared to the site’s existing use, but a reduction in total vehicles visiting the site during peak hours in the morning and afternoon.

The proposals claim the site, as previously developed land, is now consider ‘grey belt’ in line with the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), published in December.

The applicant has undertaken pre-application engagement with the Royal Borough, community and stakeholders on the revised plans.

Following the consultation, additional aspects were added to the proposals to ‘secure highway safety improvements along Westacott Way’, the planning statement said.

This includes reducing the speed limit on Westacott Way from 50mph to 30mph from the roundabout with the A4 and Westacott Way, past Woolley

Avenue and beyond to the public path, which crosses over Westacott Way.

Proposals also look to reduce the speed limit south of the public path to 20mph to the entrance of the site.

A speed reduction measure, designed to slow vehicles travelling from Maidenhead Office Park north along Westacott Way on the approach to Woolley Avenue is also proposed.

The additions also include a priority crossing for cyclists and pedestrians to support the public path as it crosses Westacott Way west to east.

Improvements for cyclists and pedestrians are also proposed for the southern section of Westacott Way to boost accessibility to the site for non-vehicular modes of transport.

Enter 25/01409/FULL into the Royal Borough’s planning portal to view the plans.