Approval given for 76-flat scheme on Norreys Drive site

The Royal Borough has given final approval to turn the site of a former office building into a residential development.

Applicant Campmoss Property Ltd wants to build two seven-storey apartment blocks with a total of 76 flats on a site off Norreys Drive.

The plans were originally given the green light at an extraordinary Maidenhead Development Management Committee meeting in June.

But a section 106 legal agreement which had to be in place before work could start was approved on Tuesday (November 25).

Under the agreement, the owner of the site, where the former Highway House office building was located, has to make a financial contribution to help control the impact the development will have on the area.

As part of the agreement, £47,078 will go towards a building emissions offset contribution.

Another £89,944 will be paid to cover a ‘lifestyle contribution’ for any activities carried out by the future residents.

Similar proposals for a residential development were submitted in 2022, but the application was rejected because not enough affordable housing was included.

At the time, council planning officers also said the loss of the site as a possible office area would have a ‘significant detrimental impact on the local and potentially wider economy’.

The site is a protected employment site within the Borough Local Plan, and an office development was approved in 2008, but was never built.

Planning officers said the new application for the 76 flats is ‘appropriately justified’ despite the loss of office space.

Highway House was demolished in 2011, and the site has been left vacant since.  The apartment scheme will offer a mix of one and two-bedroom flats, with 30 per cent social rent units.

Officers said while this does not meet the minimum amount of affordable housing for a development of this size, they ‘remain satisfied’ with the ‘provision of genuinely affordable social rent units’.

Over time, all the proposed flats could become affordable housing with the help of a housing provider, according to the planning officers’ assessment.

The borough has a housing shortfall, so the ‘titled balance’ also applies, where significant weight is given to the benefits more housing would bring.  Officers said the scheme will create ‘a significant number of homes on a sustainable brownfield site’.

A design and access statement submitted by KWL Architects as part of the application said 67 parking spaces, including disabled spots and EV charging points, will be included.