Council gives 413 home development in Sawyers Close the go-ahead

Plans for more than 400 homes in Windsor were given the go-ahead with unanimous support from the council last night.

Royal Borough councillors approved the planning permission for 413 homes to be built at Sawyers Close by housing association, Abri at the Windsor and Ascot Development Management Committee on Thursday, December 7.

The proposal included demolishing the four eight-storey blocks of flats and constructing nine apartment blocks of up to eight storeys, seven rows of townhouses, a community space, a cycle hub with 654 cycle storage spaces and 365 car parking spaces.

The site lies between Maidenhead Road (A308), Thames Mead Road and Dedworth Manor, and the 3.59 ha site comprises land within Abri and Royal Borough ownership which will be transferred to Abri through a land-transfer agreement.

Windsor resident, Sonya Robinson objected to the ‘outrageous overdevelopment’ and claimed developers were planning to create a ‘concrete jungle’, noting that two of the proposed buildings would ‘loom large as an eyesore’ for Smiths Lane residents.

Ward councillor Helen Price (tBfI, Clewer and Dedworth East) spoke favourably about the application, deeming the current blocks ‘well past their sell-by date’.

She said the scheme was not ‘perfect’ but ‘not far short’.

Committee members raised concerns about parking provisions and transport infrastructure, with suggestions for additional footpaths and extra parking spaces, but Councillor Julian Sharpe (Con, Ascot and Sunninghill) reminded councillors to be ‘brutally realistic’ in reviewing ‘the plan in front of us, not the plan we would like to see’.

He said amending the application with Abri would extend the time existing residents living in poor housing situations wait for the process to go through. 

Councillor Julian Tisi (Lib Dem, Eton and Castle) added: “We have a massive need for social housing, and this is an opportunity. If we were to vote this down today,

“I think it would be unfair to the existing residents and future residents as well.”

A motion was proposed by Councillor Sharpe and seconded by Councillor Devon Davies (Lib Dem, Eton and Castle) and committee members voted unanimously in favour with seven votes to none.

The motion to grant planning permission was in line with officers’ recommendations based on the completion of a section 106 legal agreement to secure 30 per cent on-site affordable housing (or 124 homes), contribute to the council’s carbon offset fund, and provide an on-site cycle hub in partnership with Windsor Cycle Hub.

The recommendation is also subject to the completion of a legal agreement to secure on-site parking bays along Smiths Lane without disrupting the flow of traffic.

Steven Lodge, executive director of development and asset management for Abri said he was ‘pleased’ the borough had backed plans for the regeneration of the existing residential blocks, which were built in the 1960s.

Visit the Royal Borough planning portal to find out more about this planning application: Reference 23/01090/FULL.