Pilates practitioners could face an ‘unacceptable risk’ of flooding if a bid to convert empty chicken houses near Cookham Dean for wellness classes is approved, an inspector has found.

The bid

An application for a change of use for the old chicken shelters near Honey House in Winter Hill Road, and to build a 12-space car park, was submitted in November 2025 by Jerome Challen.

The bid was to create spaces for ‘yoga, Pilates and tai chi’ use for up to 12 participants at a time, during the hours of 7am to 8pm on weekdays and 9am to 6pm on weekends. Up to 78 vehicle movement could be generated a day to and from it.

Addressing problems found with a previous bid for the site, the application said: “The conversion of barns into health and wellness spaces will not generate adverse acoustic impacts.”

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead (RBWM) refused permission for the venture in late 2025. The council cited a potential for ‘unacceptable surface water flood risk, with no appropriate mitigation measures provided’.

Problems with a plan to develop a new car park to service the site were also cited, which the council considered were ‘outside the scope’ of what the application could give.

The appeal

However, the developer appealed the rejection to the Planning Inspectorate – a Government body that rules on planning disputes involving councils.

A statement of case on behalf of Mr Challen hit out at the council and claimed its reasons for refusal were ‘unsupported’ by the available evidence.

It said Mr Challen had ‘engaged proactively with the Council’ and had ‘robustly addressed’ the dispute over drainage, in addition to other problems the local authority identified.

It added: “The council’s reasons for refusal are inconsistent, unsupported by substantive evidence, and fail to properly reflect the material considerations of the case.”

A bid for the council to pay for the legal costs of the appeal was also lodged.

RBWM’s planning department maintained its position in its own statement of case, in which council officers argued they had presented ‘clear and justified reasons for refusal’.

In its own evidence, the council included a flood risk map of the farm site, which showed the chicken houses situated in an area of ‘high risk’.

“For the reasons outlined in this statement, the development is therefore unacceptable, and the LPA [council] politely urges the Inspector to dismiss the appeal.”

What the inspector found

In their decision, planning inspector D Marley said the site ‘falls within an area of surface water flood risk’ and there were ‘extensive areas of high and medium surface water flood risk’.

Plans for the site included a drainage pipe. However, the inspector said full planning permission would be needed for this addition – something not considered as part of the appeal.

The inspector said increased traffic coming and going from the proposed Pilates hub could mean drainage problems were heightened, were a ‘severe rainfall event to occur’.

The inspector said that, due to the ‘absence of a mechanism for surface water to be safely drained’ in the application, they were ‘not satisfied that in severe rainfall events such users would not be placed at unacceptable risk’.

Therefore, the appeal was dismissed.