Oakman Inns & Restaurants Ltd is pleased to announce that Bracknell Forest Council approved their application for planning permission to restore The Royal Foresters on London Road last Friday 28th July. The £5.2 million project to restore this much loved local landmark and meeting place will take around eight months to complete.
Oakman Inns’ CEO, Peter Borg-Neal, said: “We are delighted with the outcome and would like to thank the very many members of the public who gave us their unwavering support. I think it’s appropriate to commend the Officers of Bracknell Forest Council who conducted a robust and professional process as well as delivering a determination within a few days of the original target. On a personal level, I am particularly grateful to Councillors Dorothy Hayes and Tony Virgo for their relentless encouragement and strong support for the application. This is the biggest project Oakman Inns has ever done and is incredibly important to us. Getting planning permission is a significant step in what will be a lengthy and extensive project and we will commence work immediately. The first stage will be to rehouse the bats living within the buildings and we will then need to satisfy a number of pre-commencement conditions before starting work on the demolition of the annexe buildings and the modern extensions behind the main building.
“We have already started work on putting together the detailed information required. If all goes to plan, and Bracknell Forest Council are able to discharge these pre-commencement conditions quickly, we will start the demolitions within a few weeks and be open by Spring 2018.”
Adrian Laws, Oakman Inns’ Area Manager, added: “Given that I live in Ascot I am incredibly excited that I have been given the opportunity to bring the Royal Foresters back to life. My senior management team are in place and are currently being trained in other Oakman sites. We are all literally ‘champing at the bit’ to get started with serving our guests.
In the meantime, Oakman Inns has recently added a second Berkshire pub to its Collection – the 19th Century Walter Arms in the heart of Sindlesham near Wokingham. The Walter Arms is open and trading but the expectation is that Oakman will apply for permission to renovate and extend the building after going through a pre-application consultation with Wokingham Borough Council.