Council Rejects Parcel Locker Over Safety Concerns

InPost parcel locker refused, Binfield Road (Bracknell PA20260167)

A retrospective bid to keep an InPost parcel locker outside the Spar at 125-127 Binfield Road has been refused by Bracknell Forest Council. Officers said customers were parking in a nearby bus stop and the applicants failed to show the locker could operate without harming highway safety. The locker must now be removed.

Tesco Sunday delivery hours knocked back (Bracknell PA20260320)

Tesco wanted to extend Sunday deliveries at Martins Heron from 9am-5pm to 7am-9pm. Planning officers agreed it would help stock levels, but residents and Winkfield Parish Council objected. The council's environmental team rejected the Noise Impact Assessment as inadequate and the application was refused for breaching local pollution policy and national noise guidance.

Two school solar schemes fast‑tracked (Bracknell PA20260429 & PA20260431)

Sandhurst School and Edgbarrow School will get rooftop solar arrays without full planning approval. Sandhurst's array will peak at 104kW and Edgbarrow's at 205kW. Panels will be set back from roof edges, kept below the roofline and should be barely visible to neighbours. Documents say the projects support national net‑zero and the council's climate commitments; the schools have agreed to remove the panels when they are no longer needed.

Aldi Winnersh sign‑off on EV and landscaping (Wokingham 260432)

Aldi's new Gazelle Close store in Winnersh has had its electric vehicle charging strategy and landscape management plan formally approved. The council confirmed four pre-opening conditions have been met, covering EV layout, flood resilience, ecology and tree‑replacement measures.

Victoria Gardens mobile home park extension, Barkham Ride (Wokingham PP-13734517)

Owners want to demolish a bungalow at 31 Barkham Ride to extend the adjacent Victoria Gardens park over 1.5 hectares. Plans show 35 single‑storey park homes, a community hall and park office, with access via the existing Victoria Gardens entrance, an internal one‑way road and 76 parking spaces, including 37 disabled and 37 cycle spaces. The scheme would add 34 homes compared with the current site.

Ted O'Neill, Local Democracy Reporter