Spencer's Farm development engagement sessions to take place

Public engagement sessions regarding plans for a development at Spencer’s Farm are taking place over the coming weeks.

The sessions will be taking place on Thursday July 22 and Thursday July 29 from 5:30pm to 7pm.

The first session will be a live webinar outlining the proposed development, with a presentation outlining the plans. Residents do not need to pre-register as they can access the link via https://www.spencers-farm.co.uk/.

The second session will be a ‘workshop event’ where the plans will be discussed in more details. Anyone who may be interested in attending should email SpencersFarm@bartonwillmore.co.uk in advance of the session.

Spencer’s Farm is a greenbelt area located in North Maidenhead adjacent to Maidenhead Road. Its east boundary is Strand Water, with a footpath separating the site from the Aldebury Road estate.

A vision document for the site was released in March 2019.

The document details proposals to build approximately 330 properties ranging from three-storey apartments to detached housing at the rear of the site.

Its proximity to water means that there is an increased flood risk in the area. The vision document addressed several key constraints to the proposals which included:

• The central and western part of the site comprise land within EA Flood Zone 1, within which built development can be accommodated at the scale proposed (i.e. approximately 330 dwellings and a compact 3FE primary school.
• The eastern part of the site falls within the EA Flood Zones 2 and 3, which will not be subject to build development, therefore presenting the opportunity to provide publicly accessible open space and enhancing the existing wildlife corridor.

It had been proposed that development would be limited to the areas with Flood Zone 1. However, since the document was released, the Environmental Agency has updated their guidance with much of the site now falling under Flood Zone 2.

Flood Zone 2 includes areas that have 0.1-1 per cent chance of flooding from rivers in any year.

The proposals also include access to the site by constructing a new road connecting to the B4447 in between the railway bridge and Aldebury Road.

Importantly, Spencer’s Farm also forms part of the Borough Local Plan. In March, the BLP’s inspector Louise Phillips asked for further information from the council as to where the greenbelt boundary to the east of the site would be located.