Here’s this week’s Bracknell and Wokingham planning round-up — short and local.
SPUD WAGON BAKED POTATO TRUCK (Bracknell: 25/00006/FUL)
Planners have approved the Spud Wagon food cart to sell baked potatoes from the Market Inn car park, between Bracknell bus and rail stations, until 30 March 2028. The truck occupies two parking spaces and sits only a few paces from Bracknell Forest Council’s Times Square offices.
Highways officer James Turner complained the parking plan didn’t show how many spaces were available and was in the wrong place, saying "so the plan will need to be updated accordingly". Planners also flagged safety worries when the pub car park is closed (for example during Ascot week), with customers parking on the bend of Market Street.
The permission comes with conditions: the truck must stay closed until the council receives an updated car-park drawing to its standards, the pub car park must be kept open whenever the truck is operating, and the truck’s illuminated sign must point downwards to avoid distracting drivers.
GUEST HOUSE TO BECOME HOME FOR CHILDREN (Bracknell: 25/00797/CLPUD)
Charnwood Guesthouse, a six-bedroom property on Wokingham Road, will be converted into a home for up to four children aged eight to 17. The owners applied to change the use so two adult staff living there full time can provide 24-hour care.
Charnwood advertises singles from £75, doubles £90 and studios £105 per day, though its website currently says it is no longer accepting bookings online. The detached house has a lounge, large kitchen, two ground-floor bedrooms, four upstairs, a big back garden, an outbuilding and a shed.
Bracknell Forest decided the property still counts as a "dwelling house" and does not need planning permission for the change of use, issuing a lawful development certificate.
WOKINGHAM: FIVE HOUSES BEHIND DAIRY COTTAGE (Application 251488)
Wokingham has approved plans by the Hall Hunter partnership to demolish buildings at Dairy Cottage on Heathlands Road (opposite Honey Hill) and replace them with five homes. The new buildings will follow the existing footprints, be grouped like a traditional farmstead and use traditional materials.
HURST: THREE HOUSES AND A POND REFUSED (Application 252934)
Wokingham planners refused permission for three houses in Lodge Road, Hurst. The decision says the development would harm the landscape by turning an open greenfield site into built-up land and would reduce the visual gap between Hurst and Whistley Green.
Ted O'Neill, Local Democracy Reporter
