Restaurant's Housing Plans Hit Planning Snag

Don Beni restaurant in Winkfield Row is blocked from starting a house build in its back yard despite having planning permission for a single four-bedroom house granted in 2025.

Owner Mrs Sarah Beni asked Bracknell Forest Council to approve the detailed plans required by the earlier permission: a Construction Environmental Management Plan (CEMP) and hard landscaping specifications for parking, paths and surfaces.

The CEMP must show where contractors will park, how plant and materials will be stored, loading and unloading, wheel-washing and welfare facilities. The hard landscaping needs samples and exact layouts for the restaurant car park, new paths, parking bays and boundaries.

Planning officers say the documents submitted were generic best-practice guides, not site-specific. They wanted clear detail on safe access without blocking Winkfield Row, how noise, dust, dirt, waste and contractor parking would be contained within the tight site, and a compliant drainage and surfacing scheme.

Officers also said the layout didn't demonstrate compliance with parking and design policies, including marking out 21 restaurant spaces with turning room for deliveries and refuse vehicles. For lack of necessary detail, Bracknell Forest Council refused to approve the CEMP.

Ted O'Neill, Local Democracy Reporter