Maidenhead planning round-up: Biogen office to get outdoor bar

Here are some of the most significant planning applications sent to RBWM in the past week. Enter all references into Windsor and Maidenhead council's online planning portal to see all proposals in full.

Windsor and Maidenhead council has agreed to an outdoor bar, pizza oven and extra parking spaces attached to an office in Maidenhead.

Innovation House at 70 Norden Road and its associated areas covers a 15,000sqm site, currently in use as an office. It is home to Biogen Idec Ltd, part of the global biotechnology company.

Biogen Idec currently lists its address at 5 Roxborough Way, also in Maidenhead.

Bracknell office design company Morgan Lovell applied to make a series of improvements to the area around the office, including ‘an enhanced external break-out space’ to the rear.

This will include an outdoor bar, pizza oven and seating area, with raised wooden decking and a pergola – enhancing the existing paving slabs, grass patch and smoking shelter there.

The area will within a secluded space towards the rear of the neighbouring office building – ID on Vanwall Road – and the rear boundary of 72 Norden Road.

Because this might increase the level of the noise at the site, RBWM imposed a condition for the use of the break-out space.

It can only be used 8am-8pm Monday to Friday, 8am-1pm on Saturday and never on Sunday or a bank holiday.

The same planning application also sought to extend and reconfigure the existing car park, which is ‘required’ to provide additional parking spaces.

This will ‘reduce the need for office users to park on the neighbouring residential streets.’

It is also a ‘more efficient parking layout to aid circulation of vehicles’ through the car park.

There are currently 28 parking spaces, proposed to be increased to 49. There would also be four electric vehicle charging points. However, the number of disability spaces is going down from 10 to three.

There is no expected increase or decrease in the number of employees on the site resulting from the changes.

“Overall, the application proposals are seeking to enhance the existing office facility to provide a better working environment that better suits the needs of the future occupiers of the building,” wrote the applicant’s representatives, Planning and Design Group (UK) Ltd.

The council agreed the scale of the works would create no unacceptable harm to neighbouring properties, and approved the scheme.

24/00413/FULL

Pending: Two separate planning applications have been submitted by the same applicant for four and two homes, respectively.

This is part and parcel of a wider scheme for a custom/self build housing plot on the area on land adjacent to Orchard Cottage on Drift Road.

For more about this plan, click here: www.maidenhead-advertiser.co.uk/news/maidenhead/196402/push-for-community-led-custom-housing-plots-in-maidenhead.html 

24/01065/OUT and 4/01067/OUT 

Refused: RBWM has refused a certificate of lawfulness to turn part of a building into a taxi hire business.

A lawful development is where planning permission is not required. If an applicant doesn’t get a certificate of lawfulness for proposed changes, it will have to go through the planning process proper, or else face potential enforcement action by the council.

Applicants wanted to use the ground floor office of Whitchurch House 2-4 Albert Street (host of Business Back-Up) for a private hire taxi business.

But the council had some objections. Officers wrote:

“There is also no explanation of how the business would operate in terms of hours of use and whether there will be any drivers/vehicles and customers continuously present on the premises.

“Overall, there is significant ambiguity about the extent of the proposed private hire taxi business, and also where it would be located within the subject building.”

23/02049/CPU