New Self-Build Home Approved Near Ascot

Plans for a new self‑build home on a woodland site near Ascot have been given the go‑ahead after an appeal.

The plot sits off Birch Lane, a private road surrounded by woodland and housing in Chavey Down, the hamlet between Ascot and Bracknell. It’s close to Church Road (where St Martin’s Church stands), North Road homes and Warfield Park.

The owner of the site next to a house called Pine Acres had been seeking permission for a new home. A previous proposal was refused by Bracknell Forest Council because of the scale of the building.

A later application for a four‑bedroom house was submitted back in 2023 and approved in October 2024 — but the council attached several conditions controlling what can be done on the site.

Those conditions covered ground levels and what additions could be made under permitted development rights. The owner appealed those conditions to the Planning Inspectorate.

Inspector Emma Worley ruled in the owner’s favour, especially over future use of permitted development rights. Allowed additions include single‑storey rear extensions, loft conversions, and outbuildings.

Worley said: “The future use of permitted development rights, such as blanket removal of freedoms to carry out small-scale domestic alterations that would otherwise not require an application for planning permission are unlikely to meet the tests of reasonableness and necessity.”

She also found there was no need to require finished floor level details because the site is not on a gradient. However, she did say details of flood mitigation and drainage measures are required, and adjusted the council’s wording on that condition.

The appeal was allowed following a decision made last month. The result was noted at Winkfield Parish Council’s planning and highways meeting on Tuesday 3 February.

To view the case, search reference 23/00047/FUL on Bracknell Forest Council’s planning portal.

James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporter