Bungalow Plan Next to Former Pub Rejected

A plan to build two bungalows next to the former Wellington Arms in Katesgrove has been refused by Reading Borough Council amid worries about the areas character and how waste would be collected.

Plan for two bungalows next to former pub rejected (PL/26/0666)

Developer Sykes Capital wanted one new building containing two one-bed homes next to the old Wellington Arms (now occupied by the Turkish Halal Food Centre). Planners said the scheme would harm the setting of the pub, that the bungalows were ‘crammed’ into the site, and there was insufficient detail on how bins would be collected through the Food Centre car park.

Conversion of vacant home into two flats approved (PL/26/0496)

A six-bed terraced family home in Basingstoke Road, vacant since September 2020, has permission to be split into two flats. The ground floor will become a three-bed flat (with one of its rooms provided upstairs) and the first floor a two-bed flat with a kitchen and dining area in the loft. Planning officer Marcelina Rejwerksa judged the principle acceptable and suitable for two households.

Plans progressing to bring derelict house back into use (PL/26/0177)

In Caversham Heights, Widbrook Developments is taking forward plans for a derelict property in Albert Road. Permission to convert it into two four-bed homes was granted in August last year, and details of construction, landscaping and electric vehicle charging were approved by the council on July 15. Widbrook also won an appeal to keep hoardings around the building earlier this year.

You can view each decided application by typing the reference in brackets into the councils planning portal.

James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporter