Plan refused to convert Maidenhead offices into five flats

The Royal Borough has refused a prior approval application to convert a commercial space into five flats.

As part of the proposals, the ground floor and a part of the first floor of a building on 55-57 Moorbridge Road in Maidenhead would be turned into flats.

L.A.U.K Planning sought permission to turn the commercial space into four one-bedroom studio apartments and a two-bedroom maisonette.

Previously, the site had offices on the upper floors whilst the ground floor and part of the first floor was a commercial space.

The building currently has a studio apartment on the first floor and a maisonette on the first and second storey.

A certificate of lawfulness application to use the maisonette as a six-bedroom HMO (house in multiple occupation) was approved this year.

No parking spaces were proposed.

The planning statement said that ‘the site is ideally and reasonably located for car free living’.

It added: “The application site is located in the town centre and is subsequently in a highly sustainable location.

“There is a multitude of services, amenities and employment opportunities within walking distance.”

A daylight assessment was carried out as part of the application to make sure future residents would have enough light coming in.

The applicant said that national space standards have been met but Maidenhead’s Civic Society disagreed and objected to the plans.

Planning chair Martin McNamee said: “We object to this proposal because the residential units created do not all meet the minimum described national space standards.

“Although described as ‘studios’ it appears from the plans that some are one bed units and should have a minimum living space of 50m2.”

A Royal Borough planning officer found the flats did meet space requirements for their internal floor area, but they fell short on the amount of built-in storage required by Nationally Described Space Standards (NDSS).

The officer said: “Whilst built-in storage area has been provided for the maisonette, it does not meet the required 2sqm, and only 0.8sqm has been provided.

“Additionally, there is no built-in storage proposed in any of the studio units.”

Also, the plans did not make clear whether the flats would meet requirements for the minimum floor-to-ceiling height.

The assessment added that the application shows external bins and cycle storage will be included.

But the officer said it is not clear from the plans whether the storage would be ‘safe and secure’.