Maidenhead stadium land decision to be 'reconfirmed'

The Royal Borough’s cabinet will be asked to reconfirm its decision to release a piece of land at Braywick Park for Maidenhead United’s proposed move at a meeting next week.

In April, the cabinet initially approved the disposal of six acres of public space in the park to be used for the Magpies’ new ground.

Although the football club still needs to finalise a 999-year lease with the council and secure planning permission for the development, the cabinet’s decision sparked further questions.

A group of cross-party councillors – Cllr Helen Taylor (Ind, Oldfield), Cllr Asghar Majeed (Con, Ascot and Sunninghill) and Cllr Kashmir Singh (TBFI, Riverside) – asked that the decision to release the land should be reconsidered.

The Royal Borough’s place overview and scrutiny panel discussed this further at a meeting in May.

Councillors were concerned that consultation comments were not published five days before the cabinet meeting, contrary to statutory local government rules.

This, they argued, meant panel members and the public ‘were therefore asked to rely on material they had not had reasonable opportunity to read or assess’.

Cllr Adam Bermange (Lib Dem, Boyn Hill) confirmed the comments were made available to councillors, but they were not published five days before the meeting.

Councillors voted in favour of sending the decision back to cabinet for reconsideration because they had ‘insufficient time’ to consider the objections and consultation comments.

An extraordinary cabinet meeting will take place at Maidenhead Town Hall on Wednesday, June 17.

Councillors will need to reconfirm its land release decision and confirm that all objections from residents received ‘conscientious consideration’.

Objections include additional traffic congestion, the loss of the green space, and the impact the move could have on Forest Bridge School.

The football club is offering £2.5million for the land, with £2million of this to be invested in other sports facilities at Braywick Park, including the refurbishment of the athletics track.

As part of the plans, the club is proposing that the majority of fans will park in Vicus Way to control the pressure on traffic.

But objectors argued Vicus Way is ‘already heavily used and frequently congested’.

Following the decision to send the open space disposal back to cabinet, a Maidenhead United spokesperson said the football club ‘fully understands and respects’ the democratic process and the need for all points of view to be considered.

The spokesperson added: “As this proposal develops, we will continue with our positive engagement with a wide range of stakeholders, the general public and RBWM to maximise benefits for all.”