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'Grand design' to be build in Winkfield after owner wins appeal

By Becky Barnes
January 30, 2013

A ‘grand design’ will be built after a Government planning inspector overruled the council’s decision to reject the plans.

The ambitious project was refused by Bracknell Forest Council’s planning committee last May after councillors’ claimed the area was ‘not ready for’ it.

But the innovative house was given the green light by the Planning Inspectorate after the owners’ appealed.

Homeowner Ivor Peters, 42, of Locks Ride, Winkfield, said: “We are absolutely thrilled and ecstatic.

“The design not only reflects our ambition to create a home which is distinctive and serves 21st century living, but is also testament that great quality design can prevail in the face of opposition.”

In May four Bracknell councillors voted in favour of plans to demolish Ivor and wife Jeanne’s 1950s bungalow and build a five-bedroom flat-roofed contemporary home with a studio at the back.

At the planning committee meeting Cllr Tony Virgo said: “I believe this is a striking design and it is of grand design and there is nothing wrong with having a grand design in an area.”

But chairman Cllr Colin Dudley said: “There is no doubt this would be a grand design, but I do not think people in Locks Ride are quite ready for this.”

The plans were brandished ‘incongruous and discordant’ with the surroundings and dismissed as they generated eight letters of objection.

Undeterred Ivor and Jeanne took their battle to the Planning Inspectorate, which ruled the plans could go ahead last month.

Architect and project lead, Mark Roberts, of The Bazeley Partnership architects, said: “We are delighted to have achieved a positive planning outcome on this project with our client.”

He said the design had strong sustainability principles, working towards Passivhaus standards. Passivhaus is a voluntary standard for energy efficiency in a building, reducing its ecological footprint.

Mr Roberts added: “The finished house will also enhance the local street scene and provide our clients with an inspirational home in which to live.”

The couple are now exploring environmentally friendly ways to build their innovative home and hope it will be completed in 2014.

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