Villagers resist plans to replace former Cookham nursing home with new housing

Plans to transform a former nursing home in Cookham and build eight ‘bespoke homes’ have proved controversial with villagers and the parish council.

St John Homes (Thames Valley) Ltd, the applicant, is looking to demolish the vacant Cookham Riverside Nursing Home, in Berries Road, and build eight ‘bespoke homes’ instead.

An application was submitted to the Royal Borough in February and is still pending a decision by the council.

The planned two-bed apartments and four- and five-bedroom detached homes will also include private parking spaces and electrical charging points.

Previously known as Cookham House, the site housed retired civil servants in the 1960s. It then operated as a nursing home for 25 years.

The Cookham Riverside Nursing Home was closed in 2022.

Objectors do not want to see the brownfield site turned into residential homes, with both residents and Cookham Parish councillors sceptical about the proposals.

Parish councillors spoke out against the plans, raising concerns around ‘the bulk of the proposed development’.

They said its height would take away from the openness and views from the riverside.

A comment from the parish council’s planning committee added: “This property is adjacent to the site of the nationally important archaeological dig at Cookham Abbey, whose cemetery is reported to be considered by the dig team to be likely to extend beyond the paddock.”

At a meeting this week, the parish council said its stance remains unchanged.

Residents have also commented, expressing worries about the ‘overbearing height of the new buildings planned’.

One resident said: “The existing nursing home buildings are arranged in such a way as to provide open views through the site as the existing buildings are mainly single storey in height.

“This provides views from Berries Road to the river and Bellrope Meadow and to the historic Norman village church, and views from Bellrope Meadow through to Winter Hill.

“To lose these views which are part of the character of Cookham would be regrettable. From the plans provided, it is clear that the proposed houses and flats will be very overbearing.”

But the design and access statement for the application said the proposed homes were inspired by neighbouring properties along Berries Road.

It added that the new builds will ‘reflect the scale, height and build from within the local context and the wider village’.

Other objectors were also worried about the flood risk at the site.

However, a flood risk assessment said that although the area is within flood zone 3 (highest risk of flooding) the development itself would ‘lie entirely within flood zone 1’ (lowest risk).

This is because a flood wall is in place, which will protect the site from future flooding, the assessment said.

But a comment from the Berries Road Association re-development committee challenged this, saying: “The applicants make reference to the existing flood defence walls between the site and the River Thames.

“These are known to be in need of repair and let water through in the event of flooding.

“These walls cannot be relied upon to provide adequate flood defence for the life of any proposed development, 100 years.”