Slough Borough Council has been criticised by an architect firm for the way it handled a planning application for new homes on Wexham Road.
Slough-based property firm SKHH wanted permission to redevelop a block of flats above a parade of shops facing the roundabout at 237-261 Wexham Road. The proposals would have added 14 new flats to the ten ones already there.
Cllrs rejected the proposals after planning officers advised them the plans gave residents poor outlook and insufficient parking.
A planning officers’ report said: “Ten of the proposed bedrooms would be served by poor outlook and levels of sunlight and daylight, as the windows would open up to an internal hallway and a lightwell.”
It added: “The windows opening up to the internal hallway would also result in a loss of privacy to future occupants, resulting in sub-standard living conditions.”
Planning officers also advised cllrs that the plans provided insufficient parking.
But SKHH’s planning agent, architect firm Danks Badnell, said officers had not given them the opportunity to address the issues before the plans were voted on by cllrs.
An agent from Danks Badnell told cllrs the firm was only told of several issues on Christmas Eve.
He said: “On 23 December an email was received from the planning officer requesting additional information to support the application.
“At 4:30 on 24 December – Christmas Eve – we received a further email from the planning officer outlining a wide range of issues with the proposals and informing us that the application was going to this committee with the recommendation for refusal.”
The agent said by this point Danks Badnell had already shut down for Christmas, but that he ‘immediately’ responded in early January and requested more information.
Despite this, he says he was told the plans would be presented to cllrs on the planning committee for refusal, and more information would only be given in the officers’ report.
He asked councillors to vote to defer their decision so the firm and the council could continue working to address the issues. He said the way the application was ‘not in line with our previous working experience with this authority’.
Councillors asked officers to explain how they handled the application at a planning committee meeting on Wednesday, 29 January.
Planning officers said they felt the issues with the plans were ‘so fundamental’ that they couldn’t be addressed through small changes. They said the applicant should have sought advice before submitting the planning application instead.
An officer said: “Where there are fundamental issues we wouldn’t start negotiating during the course of the application. There’s no statutory duty for us to do so. In fact there’s a statutory duty for us to try and determine applications as quickly as we can.”
Cllrs agreed with officers and voted unanimously to refuse the plans. But cllr Pavitar Mann said she had ‘sympathy’ with the Danks Badnell’s points about how the council had communicated with it.
