Plans to demolish a retail park in south Reading and replace it with logistics warehouses could get the go-ahead next week.
Brunel Retail Park, on Rose Kiln Lane, which has stores including B&M, Halfords, Pets at Home, Next and Go Outdoors, could be transformed into two logistics warehouses under the plans from owners Mayfair Capital Investment Management.
Reading Borough Council’s (RBC) Planning Applications committee will vote on whether to approve the plan on Wednesday, June 23, while council officers have said they are in favour of the proposal.
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The retail park has suffered from long-term vacancies and has several tenants which have been or are currently in administration and the owners are also looking to adapt to the “dramatic shift to online shopping”.
Planning consultants Quod, who submitted the plans on behalf of Mayfair, said ongoing changes to the retail industry have been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic and the “dramatic shift to online shopping” favoured transforming “all or part” of the site into industrial warehouse use for logistics and stock.
The plans would see the east side of the site demolished and turned into a warehouse first, with a decision to be made later whether to do the same on the west side.
The developer is seeking permission to demolish the whole site and replace it with two logistics warehouses but will decide later whether transform half or the whole of the site.
A spokesman for Mayfair Capital said in January: “We are currently assessing a number of potential options at Brunel Retail Park that involve repurposing part or the whole site into logistics use.
“We have been communicating with tenants on the scheme for some time and, although a number of retailers have been trading well, we have been looking to reconfigure the park to best serve the changing needs of the community.
“No decisions have been made at this point in time and we continue to assess our options.”
Council officers said the plans would result in policy-compliant flexible distribution and warehousing employment floorspace, contributing towards delivering required industrial and warehouse floorspace needs.
They said the scheme would meet local economic objectives by providing a storage and logistics site, and would bring jobs to South Reading, where deprivation, specifically in terms of skills, is high.
Officers also said a mixed-scheme combining retail units and a logistics warehouse would respond positively to market conditions and support wider economic development.
The current site is made up of 13 retail units with three vacant units plus the following stores:
- Halfords
- Pets at Home
- Next
- Go Outdoors
- Dreams
- Shoe Zone
- Laura Ashley
- Subway
- Costa
Units 6b, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11, which include Shoe Zone, Sub Way, B&M and Costa, would be demolished in phase one of the plan.
Units 5 and 6a would be reconfigured to accommodate Shoe Zone, Subway, Costa and current tenant Dreams. Units 3a and 3b, home to a vacant unit and Next, would accommodate B&M.
Laura Ashley, which is in unit 9, is in administration and there are no plans for it to be involved in the reconfiguration.
Mayfair Capital Investment Management Limited would later decide whether to demolish the rest of the retail park and build another logistics warehouse after “commercial discussions with existing tenants across the retail park”.
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