Policy information sourced from Windsor and Maidenhead Local Plan
QP1a Maidenhead Town Centre Strategic Placemaking Area
Maidenhead Town Centre will be renewed and enhanced through a combination of new developments, proactive managementof changeandsupport for community-ledinitiatives. This willdelivera modern, high quality, vibrant, accessible and adaptable centre.
This will be achieved through making sure that development and change contains a mix of uses that contribute towards the creation of a high quality, successful and sustainable place, and promoting sustainable ways of living, working and overall activity.
Development will be guided by a Town Centre Placemaking Supplementary Planning Document focused around the concept of the three distinct areas defined as the Town Centre Core, the Town Centre ring and the Town Centre Fringe.
Within each of these three distinct areas all new development will need to:
- Capitalise on and strengthen the centre’s important role within the wider Thames Valley as a centre for shopping, leisure and employment whilst also being a growing and sustainable community in its own right.
- Help to achieve character and distinctiveness across the town centre, including ensuring that individual developments are appropriate to their settings and contribute towards creating a clear sense of place where they are located and for the town centre as a whole;
- Deliver high quality architecture and urban design, improving legibility and creating distinct quarters which demonstrate their own individual character and distinctiveness.
- Improve gateways, arrival points and key transport routes and facilitates easier movement in and around the Town Centre for all modes of transport, including reconnecting the Town Centre with its neighbouring areas.
- Contribute towards establishing a strong green infrastructure network, including improved access to current open spaces, introducing new public spaces, and maximising opportunities to green the urban environment.
- Contribute towards the improvement and better integration of the waterways.
- Support the delivery of a coordinated programme of investment in the public realm and local infrastructure and structured environmental improvements, creating a safe accessible and attractive environment for the community and visitors alike.
- Deliver proposals that are resilient and respond to the challenges of climate change.
Town Centre Core
The Town Centre Core (containing the Shopping Centre, as defined on the Policies Map) will continue to maintain the main shopping, office, leisure and community functions of the town. The High Street will form the key focus for these activities with attractive connections to subsidiary activity nodes. Redevelopment of the Nicholsons Centre (as a retail led mixed use development will consolidate and reinforce the retail centre of the town). Increased levels of residential accommodation, principally at upper floor levels, will be provided throughout the Core area to help support the other town centre functions.
The following allocated sites contribute to the function of the Town Centre Core:
| Ref | Site | Use |
|---|---|---|
| AL1 | Nicholsons Centre, Maidenhead | Retail, employment, leisure, community and residential |
| AL2 | Land between High Street and West Street, Maidenhead | Retail, employment and residential |
| AL3 | St Mary’s Walk, Maidenhead | Retail, employment and residential |
| AL4 | York Road, Maidenhead | Residential, community and retail |
| AL5 | West Street, Maidenhead | Residential and community |
| AL6 | Methodist Church, High Street, Maidenhead | Residential and community |
Within the Core proposals will need to demonstrate how they contribute to the maintenance of the vitality and viability, reconnection of the town with its hinterland, reversal of the negative effects of the dominance of the car and reprioritization of pedestrian and cycle movement into and out of the town. Proposals for built form and public realm within the Core area should seek to create a legible a connected structure to this area and help establish a generous and high quality green and blue infrastructure network across the Core.
Town Centre Ring
The Town Centre Ring consists of a series of roads and barriers that surround the Core Area. Proposals within the Town Centre Ring shall seek to reconnect the town with its hinterland, to reverse the negative effects of the dominance of the car and reprioritise pedestrian and cycle movement into and out of the town. The corridors surrounding the town offer many opportunities to green the environment, reinforcing the identity of Maidenhead as a leafy place and extending these qualities right into the heart of the town centre.
The following allocated sites contribute to the functions of the Ring area:
| Ref | Site | Use |
|---|---|---|
| AL7 | Maidenhead Railway Station | Employment, retail and residential |
| AL8 | St Cloud Gate, Maidenhead | Employment |
| AL9 | Saint-Cloud Way, Maidenhead | Residential, community & retail |
Town Centre Fringe
Withinthe Town Centre Fringeproposals shallbringabouta widespreadseriesof small improvements which cumulatively improve the sustainability of the area by improving legibility and reinforcing existing sense of place and by realising opportunities to integrate better with the town centre.
The following allocated sites contribute to the functions of the Fringe area:
| Ref | Site | Use |
|---|---|---|
| AL10 | Stafferton Way Retail Park, Maidenhead | Retail, employment and residential |
| AL11 | Crossrail West Outer Depot, Maidenhead | Employment |
| AL12 | Land to east of Braywick Gate, Braywick Road, Maidenhead | Residential |
The above site allocations are identified on the Policies Map. Site-specific requirements for each site are contained in Appendix C and form part of this policy.
For more information please see the Local Plan