Maidenhead housing project set to be scrapped early by RBWM

Some 229 new homes were planned to be built on York Road in Maidenhead as part of a partnership between the council and developers Countryside Properties.

But now the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead says it could terminate the agreement early, with 83 of those homes unbuilt. It says these homes will now not be built for reasons that include ‘increased build and borrowing costs’ and the price of relocating the Maidenhead Heritage Centre.

The Royal Borough and Countryside first agreed to build a new housing estate along York Road in 2018. This was as part of a joint venture regeneration scheme known as the Royal Borough Development Partnership.

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Some 229 new homes were to be built as part of the project across three phases – with the first, of 146 homes, having already been completed in October last year. These are the blocks of homes on either side of St Ives Road.

The second phase was to build 51 new homes on a site opposite those flats, next to Maidenhead United’s stadium. And phase three would deliver 32 more on the Grove Street car park.

But a new council report says phase two ‘is no longer viable’. It says this is because the ‘inflationary effects of increased build and borrowing costs’ mean that the minimum land value agreed between the council and Countryside ‘will not be met’.

The council also says it no longer wants to build phase three because it wants to keep earning income from parking charges at Grove Street car park.

The first phase of the York Road development has now been completed (Image: Google) It also says it couldn’t reach an agreement with Maidenhead Heritage Centre to gain possession of its building on the development site.

The council says the cost of relocating the centre would have been more than it would have gained from Countryside if the development had gone ahead.

Leading councillors on the Royal Borough’s cabinet committee are being asked to agree to end the York Road scheme early, at a meeting on Wednesday October 31.

They are also being asked to approve further changes to the partnership that wil end ambitions to build more new housing estates on the West Street car park and Reform Road to the east of the town centre.

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The development partnership had considered building 317 homes on Reform Road and 141 on West Street car park in the town centre.

But council officers now say it would have been difficult to grant planning permission for housing on Reform Road. That’s because it would mean having to justify the loss of land currently used for employment.

They also say that a planning application for homes on West Street ‘has not materialised’.

Proposed changes to the partnership agreement will put both sites back under the council’s full ownership, with a view to selling them.