A 413-home development in Windsor has received final planning approval this month after getting councillors’ backing last year.

Housing association Abri wants to build redevelop the site on Sawyers Close in Clewer and Dedworth East. Councillors at the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead gave the plans their backing at a planning committee in December 2023.

But Sonia Robinson of nearby Smith’s Lane warned the development would be a ‘concrete jungle’. She told councillors on the committee in December: “The current scale of your development is outrageous and not in keeping with the surrounding houses and bungalows.”

She said that two of the new tower blocks proposed would ‘loom large as an eyesore for Smith’s Lane’s residents and the surrounding area and quite frankly they should go’.

She also raised fears that the ‘acres of concrete’ would increase the risk of flooding to nearby homes, and that on-street parking and traffic flows would increase.

Ms Robinson said neighbours realised that the development would go ahead but said it should be ‘with a reduced footprint of at least 100’.

But councillor Helen Price who represents Clewer and Dedworth East said the new development was badly needed. Though not on the committee itself, she appealed to its members to approve the plans.

She said: “The current four blocks are well past their sell-by date. Abri is finding it a real challenge to keep up with repairs, and the living conditions for residents are just not acceptable.

“If passed tonight, the last of the current residents will move into new buildings in 2028, so that’s another five years of deterioration. We can’t wait any longer, the residents can’t wait any longer.”

Council planning officers also recommended that the committee back the plans. They noted that all of the existing buildings are eight storeys, while the new development would be a variety of sizes.

They also said that the buildings closest to Smiths Lane would be the smaller buildings of three storeys. The taller ones – no higher than eight storeys – would be in the middle and the north of the site.

Councillors on the committee voted unanimously to allow planning officers to grant planning permission once final legal agreements had been signed. The agreement was signed on Thursday, August 29, and planning permission granted on Friday, August 30.

The existing buildings at the site, with were built around 1960, consist of four medium-rise eight-storey blocks of flats.

Under the new proposals, there would be nine apartment blocks ranging from five to eight storeys as well as seven rows of town houses.

While the officers’ report says 30 per cent of homes would be affordable, Abri, which is a registered housing provider, has indicated its intention for all residential units to be affordable in time.