Maidenhead: 434 flats plan at former Magnet leisure centre approved

The closed down centre in Holmanleaze, near Maidenhead town centre, will be turned into five buildings. It will range from four to 11-storeys, and will hold a mix of one, two, and three-bedroom homes.

The scheme, known as St Cloud Way, is a joint venture between the council and developer Countryside. It will see 349 market homes and 87 affordable homes built – split into 33 affordable rent and 54 shared ownership.

It will also have 346 car parking spaces, 22 will be disabled bays and 20 per cent will have EV charging points. Five parking spaces will be reserved for the users of the adjacent Mosque.

READ MORE: Redevelopment of Maidenhead leisure centre into flats to be decided

The ruling Conservatives sitting on the Maidenhead development management panel gave the nod to defer and delegate the plans for approval to the head of planning subject to conditions on Wednesday, December 15.

Throughout the planning process, the scheme has been subject to controversy where a petition objecting to the plans garnered over 1,700 signatures.

Petitioner Sajid Khan, who is the Mosque’s secretary, feared the distance of the apartment block from the place of worship isn’t far enough and would “overpower” the Islamic trust. He was also concerned over the increase in traffic on the narrow Holmanleaze.

Malcolm Wood, project director at Countryside, argued it has shaped the proposals over the years by engaging with over 500 people and have recently changed the scheme to incorporate affordable rent homes, reduce the height particularly close to the Mosque, adding a new crossing, and improving the subway.

View of the scheme from the nearby roundabout

Meanwhile, St Mary’s ward councillors Gurch Singh (Lib Dem) and Donna Stimson (Con) also expressed their distaste of the plans.

Cllr Stimson said she was “disappointed” the flats will be fitted with gas boilers, while Cllr Singh said, despite the land being owned by the council, the plans would deliver less than 30 per cent affordable homes – against council policy – and proposes no onsite community space.

“We are building an ‘uncomfortable ghetto’ in the heart of our community,” said Cllr Singh.

Speaking against the plans, panel member Cllr Geoff Hill (TBF: Oldfield) said: “It looks like a prison village. The design is regrettably poor and dull, and it doesn’t meet the design standards of tall buildings that are borough policy."

Previous layout plan of the site - block C has been reduced to seven-storeys

He also feared up to 30 per cent of future homeowners won’t “get their full share” of daylight due to the towering blocks overshadowing one another.

But the head of planning Adrien Waite said the design of the scheme went through an independent design panel, which is made up of planning experts, and they found it “positive”.

He said: “I personally and professionally struggle here when people describe this scheme as a ‘prison block’ because I know what it will look like when it is built and it certainly, in my view, does not look like a ‘prison block’.

“It looks like a quite high-quality brick built buildings with appropriate consideration of design detailing in those schemes.”

READ MORE: Construction of 429 Maidenhead homes finally begins

Cllr John Baldwin (Lib Dem: Belmont) proposed to refuse the scheme, believing the design and architecture standards of the tall buildings do not comply with council policy.

However, this was defeated by the Tories where Windsor Cllr John Bowden (Con) proposed to approve the scheme, saying it was a “good project” for Maidenhead.

This was narrowly passed five votes to four.