Horseracing legend AP McCoy builds stable lads' accommodation

Application part of 'state-of-the-art' project

LEGENDARY jockey AP McCoy, now officially retired, is seeking retrospective permission for a build at Lodge Down Stables.

The change of use is part of his plans for a state-of-the-art racing stable at Lambourn Woodlands.

A covering letter states that a trainer’s house has already been built on site and concedes: “However, part of the property has not been implemented in strict accordance with the approved plans, in that the use of the ground and first floor of the southern wing differs from that indicated on the approved plans.

“The ground floor of this section was permitted for lads’ hostel accommodation, however it is now used as a double garage and ancillary residential use for ther main house.”

In 2011, AP McCoy dramatically halted plans to build a £2m ‘state-of- the-art’ racing stable until he was guaranteed that a wind turbine would not be erected close to where his horses would exercise.

Extensive building was due to begin at Lodge Down Stables in Feburary that year, but the contractors were called off until West Berkshire Council gave its decision on a planning application for a 35-metre-high turbine on nearby Baydon Meadow.

The turbine was refused.

The application can be viewed in full, and commented upon, by visiting West Berkshire Council website’s planning section and using the reference 16/00610/FUL