Fresh planning news from across Berkshire - a blocked housing bid, a solar plan for a former ski slope, a new TRX studio and progress on a Finchampstead housing scheme.
Crowthorne / Finchampstead - Nine houses on Wellingtonia Avenue blocked (Bracknell PA/2026/0209)
Bracknell Forest planners refused an application to build nine homes on 'Sequoia Field' near Crowthorne Station. The land sits behind Wellingtonia Avenue, lined with giant sequoia trees and named after the first Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley.
Binfield - new future for Bracknell's former ski slope awaited (Bracknell PA/2026/0157)
Bracknell Council is due to decide plans to install more than 1,400 solar panels at the former John Nike Leisuresport site. Binfield Parish Council has no objections. The site was once Binfield Brick works and had its own railway siding.
Wokingham - TRX studio in Swallowfield approved (Wokingham 252790)
The Rowes Clubhouse at an equestrian centre has been approved for formal use as Berkshire's only dedicated TRX® studio after already running classes. Planners approved the change on April 2. Vanessa Eliott, who has represented Britain in Triathlon, opened the space last year. The building is an "oak framed and light-flooded barn" and, as one reviewer put it, 'utterly gorgeous, offering idyllic views of the neighbouring stables and their handsome steeds'.
Finchampstead Village - conditions ticked off (Wokingham 260118)
Stonebond Properties has supplied final documents for 38 houses on 2.3 hectares of meadow near the River Blackwater south of Cricket Hill. The north of the site used to be a footpath with a bramble hedgerow. The developer submitted plans for biodiversity enhancement, low and zero carbon technology, and a Construction Environmental Management plan with a Tree Protection Plan, all acknowledged by the council on March 27.
Ted O'Neill, Local Democracy Reporter
