Phase 1 Plan

A summary of the consented Phase 1 planning application and Environmental Impact Assessment is provided via this dedicated web site area.

All supporting documents, formal consultation feedback and comments received can still be inspected at RBWM's online Public Access Module, or in person in the council's Planning Department at the Town Hall, St Ives Road, Maidenhead.

The Phase 1 plan is the first stage of the waterway vision and a free standing planning application in its own right. The scope and design of any later stages will be subject to separate application(s), once implementation of Phase 1 is funded and underway.

The narrow sections of York Stream will be widened where feasible to achieve a minimum 7.2m wide navigable channel and deepened to become 1.3 deep between bridges. The culverted section between Hines Meadow car park and the La Roche leisure club will be 3.3m wide.

At Chapel Arches the channel will be widened on both sides, to allow a second large arch (on the western side) of the bridge to be opened and filled with water, while the channel curvature on the eastern side will also be improved.

Moor Cut is already >12 metres wide, but will be deepened to 1.3m between the bridges. Spoil from the excavation will be used to create a new public tow path within the existing channel, running southwards to link with the Green Way path at Green Lane.

The enlarged channels will be lined where necessary to prevent water loss through the permeable bed and to avoid the higher water levels impacting on the underlying groundwater.

Restoring the town centre waterways has been an objective of PRoM's Area Action Plan since the first Vision and Action Plan stage and is now a key part of the Area Action Plan that was endorsed as sound by a government inspector, and adopted by RBWM in 2011.

The existing waterway route adjoins or passes through three of the six Opportunity Areas, where development is proposed under plans to rejuvenate Maidenhead town centre. The adopted RBWM Waterways Framework policy already protects the waterway route and requires any new streamside developments to respect the waterway, have active frontages onto it, use low/open fencing, etc. and to contribute directly towards funding improvements to the waterway.

Any new or rebuilt structures (e.g. road bridges) that pass over the channels must also comply with minimum headroom requirements to support potential future navigation enhancements.