Physiotherapy centre in Maidenhead will not become flats

Plans to turn a physiotherapy centre in Maidenhead into flats have been turned down by Windsor and Maidenhead council.

The plan was to turn what is technically an office block on Denmark Street into six flats. The block is known as Viking House and has been used as a physiotherapy and sports injury clinic.

The site comprises a three-storey office building located within Cordwallis Industrial Area, which is identified as a Protected Employment Site within the Borough Local Plan.

The first and second floors of the 2,700sqft, three-storey building are used for Pilates, yoga, meditation and consulting rooms.

Sha Structures Ltd, a London-based structural engineer, sought a change of use to residential – which would mean the current medical use is lost.

The applicant had to provide mitigation for the ‘loss of services provided by a registered nursery, or a health centre’, under planning rules.

Sha Structures said it would speak to residents, parents, healthcare providers, and community organizations, to understand their needs regarding alternative service provision – and would make efforts to facilitate alternative health services close to the development site.

The application is a ‘prior approval’ process under ‘permitted development rights.’

This by-passes the full planning procedure, provided the applicant can demonstrate that it is applicable via a checklist of attributes for

If it meets the criteria, RBWM is obliged to approve it, under national policy.

However, it evidently did not in the council’s view, as it refused the proposal.

The said the plans did not comply with space standards under national policy, and it fails to detail the parking provision for the site, as needed.

The council also needed noise, odour and air quality assessments, full elevation/section plans and a daylight/sunlight report – and did not receive these.

Choice of process was also wrong. The pathway chosen (permitted development / prior approval) only allows internal changes associated with a change of use.

But the plans submitted include ‘external changes to the building to facilitate works’ which ‘falls outside the scope’ of this type of application.

As such, the council refused the proposals.

To see the plans in full, enter reference 24/01050/CLAMA in Windsor and Maidenhead’s planning portal.