This week’s planning roundup of decisions in Reading includes 13 approved flats, four rejected flats and an expansion at a funeral directors.
Another 13 flats approved at east Reading offices
Offices in Reading will be transformed into at least 35 flats, and could become 43 in total, after plans were approved by Reading Borough Council (RBC) this week.
READ MORE: Plans submitted to convert Broad Street Mall offices into 48 flats
Previously, plans from developer Burleigh Estates to convert the two-storey office building Alexander House, King’s Road, into 22 flats were approved by the council in June.
Further plans to convert roof space into 11 flats and create two extra flats on the ground and first floor have now also been approved.
The developer has also submitted plans to build an extra storey of eight flats, which is yet to be decided on by RBC and would take the total conversion to 43 flats.
There would be 30 parking spaces and 44 bike storage spaces on site.
Another developer, Mount Properties C/O Investra Capital, was granted planning permission in May 2017 to demolish Alexander House and build a four-to-seven storey building with 56 flats but the development did not go ahead.
More recently, a plan from P.J. Alexander Estates, a more ambitious proposal to demolish the offices and build a seven-storey 182-bed student block, was refused by the council in July 2019.
A planning inspector rejected an appeal against the decision in December 2020.
Alexander House is a few doors down from the former Arthur Hill swimming pool, which is being replaced by 15 flats for key workers.
Four-flat plan refused
Plans to demolish a workshop next to Oxford Road and build a block of four flats in its place have been refused by the council.
RBC officers said the development on Hilcot Road at the Silvers Workshop would be “excessive” and “unattractive”.
They said: “The proposed development, due to its excessive scale, bulk and massing within the tight constraints of the site, together with its inappropriate detailing, would appear as a cramped, overdeveloped, and unsympathetic development that would not satisfactorily integrate with the character of the wider street scene.”
RBC’s planning team also raised concern about the proximity of dormer windows to neighbouring homes and said the parking layout failed to provide sufficient space for parking and turning within the site.
Concerns were also raised about issues within individual flats.
Officers said the location and position of the window in the ground floor bedroom at Flat One would be right next to a proposed car parking space, resulting in poor quality outlook, and disturbance.
READ MORE: Urgent plans submitted to remove dangerous cladding from block of flats
And they said the development would not provide sufficient ceiling height and useable space for Flat Four.
Additionally, they said the layout of the site and the excessive hard surfacing proposed would result in inadequate soft landscaping and insufficient provision and opportunities for tree planting in particular.
Officers added: “As such the proposals would appear stark, unattractive and would fail to make suitable provision for increased tree coverage within the borough.”
Funeral directors extension approved
A funeral directors will expand its site to create more space for coffin preparation and storage.
RBC has granted permission for A.B. Walker & Son, at 36 Eldon Road, to extend a workshop in the rear yard to provide an additional 24.6sqm floorspace.
The approved plans will allow the funeral directors to use the workshop for coffin preparation and storage.
The L-shaped extension will not exceed the height of the current workshop and will be constructed of the same external materials.
Council officers said the site has been long established as a funeral directors and monumental stonemasons.
They said there would be “no significant intensification” of the site and the extension would be largely screened from public view, whilst matching the scale and appearance of the existing yard buildings.
Officers said the plans would have a neutral impact on the character and appearance of the Conservation Area and cause no detrimental harm to the setting of listed buildings at 32- 34 Eldon Road.
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