Amended village homes plan recommended for refusal

The future of the decaying site behind Old Windsor's smart new petrol station and food store is still in the air.

Last March a plan by Geoffrey Douglas to build 11 houses on the site behind the BP service station and Marks and Spencer shop in Straight Road was turned down by Royal Borough councillors, because it did not include an escape route in the event of flooding.

Now a new application - also for four pairs of semi-detached and a group of three terraced houses - is also being recommended for refusal by borough officers from Maidenhead Town Hall.

The amended plan includes raised walkways round the estate, a raising of a section of Straight Road, plus a gap in a hedge that would allow people to escape a flood across a neighbouring site.

But officers say there is no evidence that the owners of the adjoining site have given permission for their land to be used as an escape route. They also believe that raising Straight Road could be a problem.

Planning councillors will decide on Wednesday, March 6, in a meeting being held at Holy Trinity School, Sunningdale.