Failing foundations will be fixed at a Royal Berkshire Hospital building, while plans for an apartment-hotel, market square and logistics warehouse were also approved this week.
This week’s planning roundup of decisions in Reading also features the Mayor’s home improvements, a MOT testing site and two plans refused by the council, including a new health clinic.
Plans to fix failures in foundations at Royal Berkshire Hospital building approved
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Works will go ahead to fix foundation failures at a Royal Berkshire Hospital building, with the plans approved by Reading Borough Council (RBC) this week.
Royal Berkshire Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has been given permission to carry out the works, which include inserting a heavy concrete stake, known as a bored pile, to underpin the foundations of the Old Maid’s building in London Road.
This will “remedy failures in foundations over many years”, the trust said.
The plans also include replacing the sewer network as the existing pipework has collapsed.
The Grade II listed building, which was constructed in the 1870s to provide accommodation for nurses, is currently vacant.
The NHS trust says, once it has carried out the foundations and sewer works, it will apply for permission to install a new roof and remove rotten timbers, so it can convert the building into an office block.
Vacant gym will become MOT testing centre
A vacant former gym in Caversham will become an MOT testing centre and repairs facility.
The council this week granted approval for the change of use to Unit 2, Cantay House, 29a Ardler Road.
The unit was home to IST Fitness until December 2020 – the company has now moved to Archway, also in Caversham.
READ MORE: New Caversham gym approved by council as cinema plan withdrawn
Council rejects plan for five-bed house
Plans to build a five bed-house in Whitley have been rejected by the council due to concerns over the lack of garden space.
The plan sought to subdivide the site on Foxhays Road and build a two-storey house with five bedrooms.
Officers said the proposal would result in inadequate garden space and would be overdevelopment of the site.
They said this would be to the detriment of the character of the area and appearance of the existing house, as well as being harmful to the current and future occupiers of the existing house.
Health clinic plan refused
Plans to turn a house in south-west Reading into a new health clinic have been refused by the council due to concerns about parking.
Number 166 Berkeley Avenue was formerly part of the Upcross Hotel, provided accommodation for the owners, but has been empty since 2018.
Dr Rabhinder Mittal wanted to turn the building into a private health clinic and applied for a change of use but the council raised concerns about the layout of the proposed parking.
The council said the layout of the parking does not comply its standards as it would result in on-street parking in close proximity to the junction and on the surrounding highway, adversely affecting road safety and the flow of traffic.
Neighbours had raised concerns about the plans to turn the front and back gardens into parking, calling this “a terrible shame”.
Town centre market square and apartment-hotel plans approved
At the same meeting, the committee approved plans to transform Grade II-listed buildings in Reading’s town centre into an apartment-hotel and create a market square.
The plans from Thackeray Estates to transform 1-15 Queen Victoria Street and 147-148 Friar Street were praised by the committee.
The buildings will be renovated and extended to provide an apartment-hotel and old buildings at the back will be demolished to create a market square with boutique retailers and independent food traders.
READ MORE: Market square and apartment-hotel plans approved
Brunel Retail Park demolition plans approved
Plans to demolish all or half of a retail park in south Reading, which contains shops such as B&M and Halfords, were approved at the council’s Planning Applications committee on Wednesday.
The flexible plans will see either the whole or half of Brunel Retail Park demolished and turned into logistics warehouses.
The developer has not decided yet whether to demolish and replace the whole of the Rose Kiln Lane site, wanting “as much flexibility as possible for the future use of the site”.
Mayor’s home repairs approved
An application from a councillor and Reading’s mayor to repair and replace windows at his listed home was also approved at the meeting.
Conservative councillor David Stevens, who is currently Reading’s Mayor, applied to the council to carry out listed repair works on his Baker Street house.
He was seeking to repair broken and rotten windows and replace the panes with double glazing.
The application came to the Planning Applications committee for a vote due to being an application from a councillor.
The plan was unanimously approved, with Labour councillor Karen Rowland said the double glazing of timber windows is a good example for other residents who live in listed buildings and would have a good impact in addressing the climate emergency by helping to insulate homes.
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