Planning round-up: Former church set to become a family home

These are the latest planning applications for Windsor and Maidenhead.

Approved: The Royal Borough approved an application seeking permission to turn a church in Windsor into a family home.

Two residents are looking to turn a Methodist church in St Luke's Road, Old Windsor, into a house after the existing extension to the back of the building is demolished.

The demolition would create space for a private garden as part of the family home.

The church was built in the 19th century, with Methodist architecture and a circular front tower.

Last year, the Royal Borough gave the residents pre-application advice and said that they would need to show that the church is no longer needed in the community.

The church has been vacant since 2023, according to the planning statement submitted by Just Planning as part of the application.

The tower of the church will be retained, with a kitchen and family room proposed for the ground floor as well as a bedroom, utility room, porch, and shower.

For the first floor, two en-suite bedrooms and a study room are proposed.

The site falls within flood zone risk three – the highest flood zone risk.  But raised floor levels, a ‘robust’ flood warning system, and the permeable paving planned for the site will protect the residents from flooding, according to a flood risk assessment submitted as part of the application.

An escape route in case of flooding is also planned.

Visit the Royal Borough’s planning portal at rbwm.gov.uk and insert 25/01718/FULL to view the full planning application.

Pending: A greenbelt piece of land could be developed into a private dog walking field for a dog day care business.

The applicant, Calma-K9 Group Ltd, wants to use a piece of land to the east of Welley Road in Wraysbury privately.

Residents will not have access to the dog walking field.

A design and access statement submitted as part of the application by Evolve Planning said: “A secure field would mean that all dogs within [the business’s] care can be left off lead in a private and secure outdoor space.”

If the application is approved, the field would be used from 7am to 9pm as well as on weekends and bank holidays, but only during daylight hours.

The undeveloped piece of land is adjacent to an existing development along Welley Road but is enclosed with fencing that will be retained around the field.

A new 1.9m fence has only been proposed along the western boundary to replace a ‘dilapidated fence’ area.

Two timber field shelters with roofs were also proposed, with the existing trees and hedgerows to be unaffected by the application.

An existing parking courtyard in front of Sunnymeads Motor Company, near the site, will be retained, with two parking spaces available for Calma K-9.

A bin will also be put up on the site, with dog waste to be disposed of by the business.

The field falls within flood zone three - the highest risk zone for flooding - but the ‘majority of the site is not susceptible to surface water flooding’, according to the design and access statement.

Visit the Royal Borough’s planning portal at rbwm.gov.uk and insert 25/02884/FULL to view the full planning application.

Refused: The Royal Borough rejected an application for a new equestrian exercise track at a farm in Maidenhead.

Cedars Farm in Paley Street is a long-established equestrian property, within the borough’s greenbelt.

It has been open for the last 20 years and is used to train polo horses.

A planning statement submitted by Pike Smith and Kemp Rural on behalf of the applicants said some of the existing track and hardstanding, as well as the manege on the northern part of the site, would be removed and replaced with a new exercise track.

It said the new track would be made up of sand, fibre, and rubber using a design similar to the local area.

Bray Parish councillors recommended this application for approval, but the Royal Borough refused it.

The council said the proposals failed to show that the changes would not have ‘an adverse ecological impact on protected and priority species’.

The Royal Borough’s assistant director of planning also added that an ‘appropriate’ flood risk assessment was not submitted as part of the plans.

Visit the Royal Borough’s planning portal at rbwm.gov.uk and insert 25/02355/FULL to view the full planning application.