Two planning applications have landed on the Wokingham/Bracknell border this week — plus a third approved footpath nearby. Paste the application number into Bracknell or Wokingham’s planning portal to read the full plans.
Crowthorne / Finchampstead — Nine houses behind Wellingtonia Avenue (Bracknell PA/2026/0209)
Bracknell Forest has received an application to build nine houses on farmland dubbed 'Sequoia Field' near Crowthorne Station. The land sits behind Wellingtonia Avenue, the dramatic tree-lined route that rises to Finchampstead Ridges and was named after the first Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley.
The avenue features giant sequoia trees — the world's largest trees by volume, native to California — which can live for thousands of years. The Finchampstead sequoias are younger, at under 300 years old. The applicants even mention the 'shoppers' bus number 598 as a local link to Camberley, although that service has just been axed by Bracknell Forest Council.
Wokingham / Bracknell — New graveyard proposed (Wokingham 252896)
An application has been made to create a burial ground on farmland at the corner of Easthampstead Road and the Old Wokingham Road — a notorious spot where it is difficult to pull out onto the main road from Heathlands Road and South Wokingham.
The proposal seeks a change of use to a 'natural burial ground' with parking, access onto Easthampstead Road and a single-storey pavilion. A workshop would be kept for tools and machinery, and the applicants plan landscaping and biodiversity enhancements, including new tree planting, ponds and a wildflower meadow. Wokingham Without parish council has asked for more time to comment.
Hurst — Footpath at Hurst Village Hall (Wokingham 253150)
The Friends of St Nicholas applied to open a footpath across private land at Hurst Village Hall in School Road. That footpath was approved on 23 February.
Ted O'Neill, Local Democracy Reporter
