Westhorpe Road
Site address: Westhorpe Road, Marlow, SL7 1LB.
Original use: Garage site.
Proposed use: Four new homes.
Status: Planning permission granted.
Proposed site plan
FAQs
We reviewed all the garage sites we own and identified the Westhorpe Road site as a location for residential development. This development, part of our wider programme which aims to deliver 500 new homes by 2030, will provide much-needed affordable housing in Marlow. We don’t anticipate development of the site beginning before the second half of 2026 at the earliest.
While some residents have been informally using the garage forecourt for parking, this area is private land owned by Red Kite and was never legally available for informal residential parking. Our review of our garage sites has identified that the majority of them are no longer fit for purpose given the size of modern-day vehicles, and would not be considered as parking spaces by Buckinghamshire Council under their parking guidance. The new development includes two dedicated parking spaces per new dwelling, along with three additional bays for visitors and local residents, as shown in the site plan. The number of parking spaces on the development exceeds what is required by the council.
Planning permission has been granted by Buckinghamshire Council who are responsible for ensuring adequate provision has been made for parking. We have provided more parking spaces than we are required to, in order to accommodate visitors, deliveries, etc to our new homes.
We understand the importance of maintaining access for essential services. Once we have appointed our contractors, we will work with them to create and implement a traffic management plan to minimise any temporary disruption to local residents, and ensure that access for emergency vehicles, waste management vehicles, and postal and delivery services is maintained.
We will provide a single point of contact for any residents who have concerns regarding traffic, or who need to report any issues with damage to the highway once construction commences.
As with all our developments we will work with our contractors to minimise the disruption caused by noise from the work being carried out.
The development will incorporate permeable paving and other sustainable drainage solutions to manage surface water effectively. These measures are designed to reduce the risk of flooding and improve water runoff compared to the current garage surface. A Drainage Strategy was submitted as part of our planning application.
Yes. Once we have appointed our contractors we are planning to organise an on-site information-sharing event with them, supported by local councillors, to explain what will be involved in the development and answer residents’ questions. A date for this is dependent on the appointment of our contractors, but local residents will be updated with a letter once arrangements are in place.
Our contractors carry out an annual risk assessment of our entire tree stock. The potential risks they look for are the 4 Ds – whether a tree is Dead, Diseased, Damaging or Dangerous. Generally, we do not undertake remedial works to trees simply because they are obstructing the view or reducing the light to a property.
Planning permission was granted based on the plans we submitted which clearly indicated the need to remove a number of trees currently on our land in order to facilitate the development. None of these trees is covered by a Tree Protection Order, and the local authority were satisfied that they could be removed. One of the conditions of the planning permission is that we must protect existing tree roots.
Planning permission has been granted on basis of the plans we submitted – therefore we would not update these. The plans reflect the full extent of our development, and it should therefore be possible to assess its effect on surrounding properties from them.
The development complies with all planning requirements for separation between dwellings, especially overlooking windows. As detailed on the plans, all bathroom windows in the development will have obscured glazing to ensure privacy is maintained.
We do not anticipate that the work being carried out will have a structural impact on the surrounding properties. Our contractors have a duty to keep residents informed of any particularly disruptive activity.