Plans to replace the former John Lewis customer collection centre with flats have cleared a crucial hurdle. Here are the key Reading planning updates.
Replacement of John Lewis site with 170 flats clears hurdle (PL/24/1155)
The plan to replace the John Lewis customer collection centre with 170 flats has officially been approved. The facility in Crossland Road, opposite The Oracle, has been closed since 2022. John Lewis signed a section 106 legal agreement with the council on August 20, laying out affordable housing contributions and other commitments. The status of the project is unclear, as the John Lewis Partnership announced in February that it was withdrawing from its Build to Rent property business.
Plans progressing to bring pub and historic buildings back into use (PL/25/0087)
The Coopers Arms and the historic buildings at 27-32 Market Place are being redeveloped to create three retail units with eight apartments above. DreamVault Escape Adventures has occupied retail unit 1 since January. The developer won permission for landscaping details, particularly around the amenity area of retail unit 2, the reprovided pub.
New look signage for Brunel Retail Park (PL/26/0886)
Signage at Brunel Retail Park in Whitley could change: plans would replace two cylinder totem signs with two tall rectangular signs carrying 12 labels for businesses on site. A tile business is also set to open at the former Halfords unit, which closed in June last year.
Plan to expand house to add more rooms (PL/26/1123)
An end-of-terrace house in Erleigh Road, currently a six-bed HMO used as private student accommodation, has applied for a single-storey rear extension and other alterations to provide a total of eight bedrooms and more communal space. Following a loft conversion in 2022, seven people have been living there, which requires planning regularisation from the council.
You can view each application by typing the reference into the council's planning portal.
James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporter
