THE face of Reading town centre will be changed forever after two key votes tonight.

Sir John Madejski's Station Hill 2 scheme and a new entrance for the redeveloped Reading Station to the west of the Three Guineas pub were both approved by Reading Borough Council's planning committee.

Planning and transport leader Cllr Tony Page said: "The people of Reading in decades to come will be able to look back at this committee tonight - it's an even more important committee meeting than that which approved The Oracle."

The station entrance project has been criticised by architectural and heritage organisations because it means knocking down parts of a listed building, the single-storey former station buildings next to the Three Guineas pub.

But the committee, minus Lib Dem Kirsten Bayes who voted against, decided that the "overwhelming benefits" to Reading of the station scheme meant it was worth sacrificing the listed buildings.

Cllr Richard Stainthorp said the real loss was when the old eastern wing of the station was demolished in the 1980s to make way for the current concourse, and that getting rid of the western wing would actually help rebalance the "true" heritage building.

But the project can only go ahead if English Heritage drops its objections, since it does "not accept that the position of the footbridge is of itself justification for the demolition of this section of the listed building."

The Station Hill 2 scheme was also approved in outline, meaning parts of it will come back before the committee in the future. It slots in with the station redevelopment and will see huge swathes of unloved development in front of the station replaced by taller buildings set round a public square, including a shopping street leading to Friar Street.

On top of flats, offices and shops, it will also have a bowling alley and - crucially, councillors decided - a pub.

Cllr Isobel Ballsdon called the current Station Hill area "an embarrassment to the town" with its regeneration "long overdue".

Sir John was at the meeting, and celebrated after the unanimous 'yes' vote.

He told the Chronicle: "It's a fantastic scheme, and I'd like to thank everybody concerned for their hard work and diligence."

The station redevelopment and Station Hill 2 scheme will together mean more than £1bn of investment in Reading, which councillors said would cement its place as the regional economic hub and pave the way for city status.

But Reading East Lib Dem parliamentary hopeful Gareth Epps, who spoke as a member of the public against the application, said afterwards: "With this planning consent being granted, Reading is close to losing the opportunity for a proper transport interchange, certainly in my lifetime. It is a failure of strategic planning that Reading Borough Council was unable or unwilling to make sure this opportunity was provided. Had they done so, they would not only have made the station area better but reduced the risk of a Government call-in."

Cllr Page said the transport interchange plans had the full backing of Reading Buses and that having three different bus and taxi hubs surrounding the station was the best solution for passengers.

- Full story in next week's Reading Midweek.