Controversial Cookham stables would meet 'desperate need' for horses in the area

Sixteen new stables will be built on rural land near Maidenhead.

The single building will be built at Copas Farm in Cookham, with 12 parking spaces and associated access at Lower Mount Farm.

This is an outline planning application, which means the applicant is seeking if the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead agrees with the development in principle before submitting a full planning application.

Previous plans to build 30 stables and two fouling boxes with 32 car parking spaces were refused by councillors and was dismissed on appeal by a planning inspector, who ruled the size and scale of the development would impact the green belt’s openness.

Planners went back to the drawing board with a reduced scheme, but this didn’t quash the concerns from objectors.

The application was called in by Cookham councillor Mandy Brar for members sitting on the Maidenhead development management panel to decide if officers recommended approval, as she believed the plan would still harm the green belt and was concerned with the vehicle access and parking.

Speaking at the meeting on Wednesday Dick Scarf from the Cookham Society objected to the scheme, saying the owners should ‘re-purpose’ existing buildings on the site into stables rather than build a new building that will harm the green belt.

Geoffrey Copas from Copas Farm said the scheme has been scaled down drastically and planning officers find the new plan acceptable.

He also said the inspector did find the development appropriate on green belt land but disagreed with the scale and size.

He added the local area “desperately needs” land for stables and grazing for horses following the closure of three facilities.

Cllr Geoff Hill moved a motion to approve the scheme in line with the officer’s recommendations. This was seconded by Cllr Maureen Hunt.

Cllr Hunt said: “This is a countryside sport, leisure activity and that’s what we need.