Reading plan to replace Central Pool with 62 homes submitted

The Central Pool site has been sealed off since it closed and was demolished in 2018.

The hoardings have since been decorated with street art which reflect the town’s cultural heritage, as part of the council’s High Street Heritage Action Zone (HSHAZ) project.

Earlier this year, designs for what will replace the Central Pool were revealed at consultation events.

The site will be redeveloped by Reading Borough Council, which wants to build a total of 62 homes, sheltered living accommodation and an older persons day care centre.

Now the council’s application has finally appeared on its planning portal.

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The 62 homes are made up of 49 affordable homes and 13 will be supported living accommodation flats.

Numbers of car parking spaces will be limited, and split between two family homes (one space each), one for a wheelchair accessible flat, three parking spaces for the older person day centre, and three reserved for the supported living flats.

Of the nine spaces, all will have electric vehicle charging points and three will be disabled access spaces.

Although the development would have modest car parking facilities, there will be 32 cycle spaces in a formula based on one space per two dwellings.

There will also be a secure store for seven mobility scooters for sheltered living residents and the old persons day centre.

The development would be contained in seven buildings.

The seven buildings that make up the Reading Central Pool replacement plan in Battle Street, Reading. Credit: Reading Borough Council

The largest, referred to as Block A in the plan, would contain 29 one-bed sheltered flats, a mix of general use and supported living flats, and the old persons day centre on the ground floor.

Blocks B-D would be general needs flats, blocks E1 and E2 would contain supported living flats, and two three-bed terraced homes.

You can view the application by typing reference 221405 into the planning portal.

Dr Marie Arndt, a neighbour living in Allison Court has raised concerns that the size of the proposed buildings would block access to daylight for one of her living room windiows.

The graffiti art painted on the hoardings to the Central Pool site in Battle Street, Reading. Credit: James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporting Service

An assessment of the impact the development would have on neighbouring properties has been conducted by Matthew Craske of Daylight Sunlight Consulting Ltd, which involved Vertical Sky Component (VSC) and Annual Probable Sunlight Hours (APSH) surveys.

Mr Craske’s report states that both VSC and APSH tests conducted at Allison Court met Building Research Establishment (BRE) guidelines.

The council is conducting an in person consultation event at the Oxford Road Community School from 6.30pm to 8.30pm on Monday, November 7.

Furthermore, councillors on the planning committee agreed to conduct a site visit ahead of them deciding the application in the coming months.

Meanwhile, the decorated hoardings remain in place.

Earlier this year, the planning committee approved the installation of an interpretation board to explain the council’s HSHAZ project to passers-by.