Ascot Centre

The Developer has filed new plans for Ascot Centre which were posted on RBWM's website on 16^th December.

We still have serious concerns regarding several fundamental aspects of this imminent and significant project, even though the revised plans reflect a number of improvements.

Planning application RBWM 22/01971

will have significant implications for our community.

The deadline for comments to be submitted is 6^th January 2023.

The main areas of concern continue to be:

• Lack of parking both within and outside the development - Only 124 spaces for 133 homes. There will be just SIX car parking spaces for use by the commercial units only. There will be none for shoppers and residents visiting the community building!

• Over development of housing - 133 homes crammed into 2.77ha (i.e. nearly 50 dwellings / ha), plus commercial offices.

• Loss of mature trees - 46 of 115 trees will be lost (i.e. 40%), where most are categorised as high or of moderate quality.

• Timing of Neighbour Consultation expiry date of 6^th January 2023 which straddles the Christmas and New Year holidays. This timescale is unreasonable when there are 106 documents associated with this revised planning application.

The main areas of improvement that have been made to the planning application appear to be:

• improved proposals for a Community Building

• a better Market Square

• design improvements involving changes to some building facades and heights

NPDG and SPAE have been supportive all along about the rejuvenation of Ascot, but what is now being proposal falls short of the Prince’s Foundation Vision.

Address: Land Bounded By Ascot Fire Station Station Hill And West of Hermitage Parade And South of High Street Ascot Proposal: Redevelopment of existing site to provide 2,255.6sqm flexible commercial floorspace and 571sqm flexible community floorspace (mix of uses within Use Classes E, F1 and F2) and 133 dwellings with associated parking, access, open space, landscaping and other associated works. Provision of new public open space with associated hard and soft landscape works, new pedestrian and cycle paths and children's play area

Further detail of the London Square’s plans can be found on RBWM Planing Portal. Search by application reference number: 22/01971/FULL

Please email your comments to the Council at planning@RBWM.gov.uk

quoting planning application 22/01971/FULL.

What has been proposed will have an adverse impact on Ascot and the wider area. It does not deliver the full community-approved ‘vision’ for the High Street which can be found in the Neighbourhood Plan (NP) and Prince’s Foundation Report which is appended to the NP.

Specifically the proposed development does not conform to our NP Policy SS1 & Project 9.1 or to the Princes Foundation Report on which this policy is based.

Sections 8.1 & 9.1 of the Neighbourhood Plan outline a vision vision for the centre of Ascot. The current planning application is for development of part of the town south of the High Street (called Ascot Green in the NP) and was dependent on the area being released from the Green Belt. The recently adopted Borough Local Plan has released this land from the Green Belt.

We will submit a formal consultation response. We urge you to write to the Council to express your opinion about these plans.