A decision on plans for 235 new homes on a green space in north east Bracknell has been delayed.
The planning committee of Bracknell Forest Council was asked to decide how residents will access 235 homes between Hayley Green Road and Winkfield Lane – to the west of the Cricketers pub and to the south of the former site of Warfield Primary School.
The planning committee considered the application for three and a half hours – one of the longest meetings that many people present could remember.
The main access to the site will be by car, being surrounded by country roads with little street-lighting. A nearby footpath is already being constructed without off-carriageway cycling facilities.
The plan was already controversial because of the rumoured axing of a nearby bus service and dozens of residents have objected to the scheme.
Currently it is proposed to provide access to new houses via a staggered junction to the east of Malt Hill and the current Hayley Green Crossroads on the Bracknell Road – an accident hotspot – and from Forest Road, East of the junction with Cricketers Lane. There would also be a single cycle path.
Some people have proposed that the Malt Hill crossroads, expected to be re-modelled as part of the plan, should become a roundabout.
Planners disagreed, saying that a roundabout would be out of character, causing the loss of trees, and that the site does not have enough land to accommodate one.
However the plan in general was considered to conform to Warfield’s ‘dark skies’ policy because LED lighting proposed is designed to limit light scatter.
Cllr Gareth Barnard, the Chair of Warfield Parish Council and leader of Bracknell’s Conservatives had already expressed concerns the previous day at a full council meeting that the plans to further develop Warfield were being made, independently of the Council’s transport policy, for example with regard to the 299 bus.
The 299 bus service is very limited running only three days per week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and is suspected to have become uneconomical. There are rumours that Bracknell’s budget for 2026, already under great strain, will cut the service completely.
Councillors have run a risk that by procrastinating and deferring the application, developers could appeal against the council for not making a decision, but Cllr Barnard felt strongly that access to the site should be considered again.
He said: “Can we just look at the access again one more time and see if we can tweak this?”
Cllr Patrick Smith (LibDem) agreed with him, and supported the concept that the developers be asked to engage with the council one more month, particularly to consider access to the site.
“We do need to weigh the risks around this. The big issue at the heart of all of our discussions here is around the integration between the officers, residents and the applicant.
“It would feel like bad faith were they not to engage in one more month of discussions. It feels like the sensible thing to do.”
Council Leader Mary Temperton: (Lab) said: “The concern over Hayley Green tells us this is the right decision.”
11 councillors voted to defer the decision with just one, the chairperson, Tricia Brown (Lab) abstaining.
