Wokingham politicians want the former Waitrose and M&S Food Hall on Peach Street used to provide council homes. The council bought 28-38 Peach Street in 2017 for £1.9M; it's now a charity shop and forms the fourth edge of Peach Place.
Labour councillor Marie-Louise Weighill urged the council to "think about using our community assets to build for the community". She warned: "If we sell and let the market decide, we know we’re just going to end up getting luxury flats – that’s the thing that’s going to get the most money."
Council leader Stephen Conway appeared to back the idea, noting others are pushing for more council housing: "Obviously we know that the next Prime Minister is very keen to highlight the importance of council housing – the expansion of council housing, and clearly one of the things that makes that difficult is lack of money." Cllr Weighill added: "You have to make a choice about what’s going to drive your decisions: are we going to be driven by immediate commercial gain or are we going to be driven by the ambition to provide more council housing."
The long, thin unit dates from the 1960s, totals about 25,000 sq ft over two floors (c.14,000 sq ft at ground level) and traded as Waitrose from 1970 to 1996, then as an M&S Food Hall until the council bought it. The first floor contains unsafe RAAC, so long-term use will require demolition and rebuilding. The ground floor is currently occupied by the Forces Support charity.
The council had briefly considered moving its HQ to the site but has decided to keep its Shute End base for at least 10 years.
Conservative councillor Pauline Jorgensen said: "What I want to do is make the best answer for our residents both in terms of something that’s usable and an asset to Wokingham Town Centre but also something that provides things like affordable housing and provides a good revenue for the council." She added: "The option I can’t actually see here is the option of knock it down, develop it, and then sell it, to take any profit from the development."
Officer Sarah Morgan set out seven options, from selling as-is to the council developing the site. She warned: "There are risks associated with a freehold sale and those are particularly summarised as a loss of control. Once that asset is sold, the only real control the council would have is through the planning process. If we keep it, we also take on the risk of holding it, and that’s part of the development process, so it’s a really finely balanced piece."
There was no vote. Officers will explore the possibilities in more detail, including Cllr Jorgensen's suggestion that the council develop the building and then sell it to retain temporary control and take any profit from the development.
Ted O'Neill, Local Democracy Reporter
