Councillors have narrowly voted to approve Taylor Wimpey’s plans for 225 homes in Maidenhead.
The Royal Borough’s Maidenhead development control panel approved the housebuilder’s plan for full planning permission to develop a 6.47-hectare site south of Kimbers Lane at the May 14 meeting, by three votes to two.
Cllr Sian Martin, who began chairing the meeting, left early due to feeling unwell. She was replaced as chair by Cllr Gurch Singh who put forward the motion to approve the scheme.
That vote was tied at two-two and went through on his casting vote.
Councillors had debated for more than two hours about issues around a nearby sewage works, the design of the homes, their mass and density and the proportion of flats proposed.
The scheme, which is phase two of a wider scheme totalling 440 homes, makes up part of a 90-hectare allocation of 2,600 homes, schools, public open space, sports pitches and a local centre
The 225 homes is a mix of one, two, three and four-bedroom properties including 133 one, two and three-bedroom flats, along with terraced, semi-detached and detached houses.
Of the total 225, there will be 68 (30 per cent) affordable homes and there will be eight custom-built homes.
Cllr Kashmir Singh, who opposed the scheme, said: “We need the housing but the problem is we need the right type of housing in the right place at the right time.”
He said he was unhappy with the mass and density, adding: “I would be far before happier if they had proposed something more along the lines of two up, two down houses or maisonettes with gardens and so on.
“We already have an oversupply of flats in Maidenhead. Last year a report said, out of 160, more than half of them were unsold after more than a year.”
The team on the project includes Savills on planning, ECE on architecture and Stuart Michael Associates on transport.
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