Bracknell's Planning Roundup: KFC and Care Home Updates

A health centre and takeaway in Bracknell, a care home in Earley and stables in Ascot feature in this week's planning roundup.

KFC car park plan, Bagshot Road, Bracknell (Bracknell 25/00761/FUL)

Bracknell Forest Council has approved KFC's Car Park Management Plan tied to permission to trade until 2am. The plan covers supervision between 11pm and 2am: no parking on site after 11pm, orders only via the drive‑thru lane, staff cars positioned to keep vehicles away from nearby homes, and ANPR cameras, bollards, cones, signage, staff patrols and a review process if complaints arise. The decision follows an earlier premises licence ruling.

Stables, Prince Albert Drive, Ascot (Bracknell 25/00427/FUL)

An application sought full permission for a six-stable L-shaped block with tack room, feed store, hardstanding, access track and a 6.2-metre gateway on Green Belt pasture. The owner said it was a modest, private equestrian facility, screened by existing trees. Neighbours objected, saying it was oversized, would cause over-stabling, harm protected trees, increase horsebox traffic on a narrow lane and erode openness and wildlife habitat. Planners refused the application.

Land adjacent to Skimped Hill Health Centre, Bracknell High Street (Bracknell 25/00169/COND)

Details under condition 19 were approved for the new Skimped Hill Health Centre, namely the revised Travel Plan Rev B submitted by Jane Batty via Vail Williams LLP. The plan records 78 car parking spaces and 18 cycle spaces and includes measures to encourage walking, cycling, public transport and lift-sharing, plus staff travel surveys and potential remedial action if car-use targets are missed. The decision documents show no formal objections.

Care home, 94 Hartsbourne Road, Earley (Wokingham 260954)

Ellies Place Ltd applied to change the four-bedroom house into a children's residential care home for up to four young people aged 5-18 with social, emotional and mental health needs. Externally the property would stay the same, with three off-street parking spaces, cycle storage and a ground-floor office/sleep-in room for 24-hour staffing. Wokingham Borough Council approved the scheme subject to conditions limiting occupancy to four, widening and centralising vehicular access, stopping up the existing access, and securing on-site parking and covered cycle storage for highway safety and sustainable travel.

Ted O'Neill, Local Democracy Reporter