Reading site derelict for 10 years set for new homes

The demolished Alice Burrows Care Home site in Dwyer Road, Southcote, has been dormant for over 10 years.

The care home was last seen standing in 2009, after which it was demolished so that the land could be repurposed by Reading Borough Council.

Now council housing for families and the vulnerable will be built on the ground where it once stood.

The council’s plan to build a mix of houses and flats there was recently discussed at a planning applications committee meeting.

A view from inside the former Alice Burrows Care Home site which was demolished by 2012 and has sat vacant for a decade in Dwyer Road, Southcote. Credit: Reading Borough Council

Members acknowledged how long the site has been left vacant.

Councillor John Ennis (Labour, Southcote) said: “It’s been a decade of waiting, it’s been a decade of promise.

“As a local councillor, we’ve been looking at this piece of land which has been lying idle for a long, long time, we’ve been promising residents we would build there.

“I couldn’t promote this more, I couldn’t vote for this more.”

Of the 30 homes that will be provided, there will be 15 one-bedroom flats, a five-bedroom home, six four-bedroom homes and eight three-bedroom houses, all of which will be available for affordable rent once built.

These will be contained in an apartment block, a terrace of 10 homes, two sets of two semi-detached houses and the detached five-bedroom home.

The site layout for the plan to replace the former Alice Burrows Care Home in Dwyer Road, Southcote with 30 homes. Credit: HTA Design LLP

Also welcoming the plan, cllr Richard Davies  (Labour, Thames) said: “These are the kind of family-sized dwellings that there is a real need for, where there is a real shortage in the affordable sector.”

However, the scheme did come in for some criticism as the number of homes outstrips the amount of car parking spaces provided, which was reported by Ethne Humphreys.

For the 30 homes, 24 car parking spaces will be provided, with two of these reserved for the disabled.

Cllr Simon Robinson (Conservative, Emmer Green) said: “There is no visitor parking allowed at all or anything of that nature.

“Whilst this application is great in many aspects, the car parking is certainly something that should be looked at, as you are putting pressure on people having to park outside of the area. so that’s the only thing I would say in a negative way.”

READ MORE: Eleven sites in Reading where hundreds of homes could be built

Cllr Ennis acknowledged his point, but argued that the site has a bus stop close by and that not all of the residents would necessarily need a car.

The new council estate will be accessed from Appleford Road.

Planning officer Humphreys also critiqued the lack of open space within the estate, but ultimately concluded that the benefits of it being 100 per cent affordable meant that it should be approved.

The council homes were approved unanimously by the planning committee on Wednesday, December 6.