A plan to replace Forbury Retail Park near Reading town centre with hundreds of flats has re-emerged.
The retail park is mainly a row of big‑box furniture stores and a KFC drive‑thru. The eastern part of the site contains a McDonald’s drive‑thru, Argos, Decathlon and Hobbycraft.
Site owner Abrdn Property Income Trust has submitted plans to build new homes on the site.
The project would demolish the western row of stores and the KFC drive‑thru and replace them with up to 700 apartments and retail space.
Occupants would be able to use 130 car parking spaces and 600 cycle parking spaces.
Abrdn previously proposed 820 flats across 12 tower blocks. That scheme was submitted to Reading Borough Council in June 2023 but was disposed of because of inactivity in November last year.
The planning statement says consultation with council officers and the public led to design revisions, including lower maximum building heights, greater variation in block heights and footprints, and reductions to the size of a basement car park and commercial floorspace. The project keeps the name 'Kings Meadow View'.
“Kings Meadow View aims at transforming and providing a new heart to the town centre of Reading, replacing a tired retail park with a residential-led mixed-use neighbourhood. Following extensive discussion with the council, we have substantially reduced building heights so that no element now meets the local definition of a tall building.”
The site is allocated for development as policy CR13b in the council’s Local Plan for the delivery of approximately 700 new homes.
“The development makes effective use of an under-utilised brownfield retail park in a highly accessible town-centre location, delivering much-needed housing at the lower end of the site’s allocated capacity.
“Up to 700 dwellings here would make a substantial contribution to Reading’s housing targets and help sustain a five-year supply on land that has long been earmarked for a new residential community.”
The proposal would provide up to 3,000 sqm of commercial floorspace, which could include a food store, but still result in a net loss of 6,000 sqm of floorspace.
The plans have been submitted in outline, with all matters reserved except access from Forbury Road, so designs could change in future detailed applications.
View the outline application by entering reference PL/25/1706 on Reading Borough Council's planning portal.
James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporter
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