An ongoing battle to turn a now vacant pub into a place of worship has been met with fresh objections as further documents are being requested.

As previously reported, the Jolly Woodman near Burnham Beeches, closed its doors as a public house in January after a slump in trade.

Hindu group GB Shri Raghavendra Swami Brundavan has since taken over the site, with the charity raising £700,000 to acquire the property.

Having been situated in a rented space in White Hart Road in Slough since 2017, the trustees hoped to secure a permanent place for worship and community events.

Plans went in on January 31 to make alterations to the inside of the Jolly Woodman site, as well as proposals to build a meditation room and add additional parking spaces to the rear of the property.

Since the plans were made public, 209 objections have been received and 117 letters of support.

Last week Buckinghamshire Council's property and asset management team said the plans are of "significant detriment" to the area.

Now further relevant parties have had their say, adding a further two objections and a letter of support to the plans.

The Ecology team at Buckinghamshire Council have objected on the grounds of the proposed development being "likely to result in the deterioration of a Site of Special Scientific Interest" (SSSI).

As the plans stand, they "fail to address the requirements" of the protection of the SSSIs and protected species.

The Ecology team added: "No ecological information was submitted in support of the application. The Ecology and Trees Checklist that was submitted is erroneously filled in and misleading.

"No protected species were also ticked.

"The proposed development and inadequate parking facilities will contribute to increased pressure to the SSSI and priority habitats."

They added: "The proposal is deemed highly unacceptable at that location and the information submitted is insufficient to address the likely negative effects of the development to the SSSI and to protected species and biodiversity.

"However, if you are minded to approve the application the following information must be submitted prior to determination: Ecological Impact Assessment and Biodiversity Net Gain Report, including the submission of a Statutory Biodiversity Metric."

It was also noted that Natural England must be consulted as the application site is within 500m of the Special Area of Conservation (SAC) Burnham Beeches. 

In a separate report from Natural England, it is stated that they have "no objections".

They wrote: "Based on the plans submitted, Natural England considers that the proposed development will not have significant adverse impacts on statutorily protected nature conservation sites or landscapes."

Meanwhile, Buckinghamshire Council's Highways department has given the plans a further objection citing an inadequate provision of parking and space for manoeuvring - leading to more parking on the street and potentially dangerous manoeuvres.

The document added: "The location of the site is such that it has only limited access by non-car modes of travel. The absence of adequate infrastructure and the site's remoteness from major built-up areas is such that it is likely to be reliant on the use of the private car contrary to local and national transport policy."

A date has not yet been set for Buckinghamshire Council to meet to decide on the plans.