A leaky roof at Royal Berkshire Hospital in urgent need of repair will be fixed, after plans were approved this week.
Elsewhere, in this week’s planning roundup, plans for a shop, a takeaway, and flats were approved, along with another flats plan on the same road at a former bank.
Leaky roof repair at hospital
Royal Berkshire Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has submitted plans to fix the roof at the Old Library.
The Old Library is part of the Royal Berkshire site and is Grade II listed.
The trust said of the plans: “The current state of the roof is in urgent need of repair as it has begun to leak due to natural weathering and may damage the historic fabric”
READ MORE: ‘Urgent’ plans submitted to fix leaking roof at Royal Berks
The roof's leaking being checked
The repairs to the old library will not have any impact on the services the hospital provides to patients, a spokesman for the trust added.
Most recently the room has been used for occasional meetings but, due to members of staff working from home during lockdown, this has not had an impact on hospital services.
The council approved the plans on March 10, with officers saying the works would not harm the building and sympathetically preserve the fabric and restore the character of the listed building.
Takeaway, shop and flats plan
Plans to turn a former Italian restaurant in the town centre into a takeaway, shop, and flats have been approved.
Warrant Investments Plc applied to turn the former Ask Italian restaurant at 64-65 St Mary’s Butts, which shut amid the Covid-19 pandemic, into a mixed-use site.
RBC approved the plans on March 8, which will see the closed ground floor restaurant subdivided into a takeaway unit and shop unit and the first and second floors changed to four flats.
READ MORE: Takeaway, shop and flats plan at closed Italian restaurant in town centre
Ask Italian closed during the lockdown and has not since re-opened
Nearby restaurant and bar Coconut, at 62 St Mary’s Butts had raised concerns about the plans.
Its management said: “Granting a residential accommodation very close to our business running late license will affect our business since we may receive complaints about our licensable activities.
“St Marys Butts, as far as we are aware does not have any residential accommodation and many businesses adjacent have late license in that area.
Consequently, we feel this will create a problem for us and other businesses in the late night community.
“We would like to carry on our business as normal and we want to provide good service and entertainment for our community once this pandemic is over.
“We feel once the restrictions will be back to normal for us and our neighbours’ licenses, these accommodation may present problems for us all in the near future.”
Flats plan at former Co-Op bank
Another plan for flats on St Marys Butts was approved at the former Co-Op bank at number 34.
The first and second floors of the bank will be converted into four flats, with the ground floor to be made available for a new shop.
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