Dangerous cladding will be replaced at yet another building in Reading, with the council approving plans to remove the “non-compliant” materials and install safe new cladding.
Queens Wharf, on 47 Queen’s Road, is an apartment and offices block.
The owner of Queens Wharf applied for a certificate of lawfulness to confirm if planning permission was needed or not to replace the cladding at the building, which is a mix of flats and offices.
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StanLil submitted the application to Reading Borough Council (RBC) in May.
The building is taller than 18 metres, which means any combustible cladding must be replaced, while £3.5 billion of Government funding has been made available for replacement cladding on buildings over 18m which are residential,
As well as replacing the existing non-compliant cladding system installed to external walls and installing a new compliant cladding system, “like for like”, timber decking on balconies will be removed and replaced.
StanLil did apply for planning permission as it hoped it could undertake the works without needing this type of approval.
The council has agreed that the replacement does not materially affect the external appearance of the building, granting a certificate for the works last week.
The cladding is not Grenfell-type but is another type of combustible cladding.
Works would have required planning permission if they had materially altered the appearance of the building, or if the works were controlled by a planning condition attached to the original permission.
Other buildings where cladding is being removed
Combustible cladding is being removed from sites across the town, which are mostly tall apartment blocks.
The council has approved plans to replace cladding at the following apartment blocks:
• Q2, Watlington Street
• The Honister and Hewitt buildings at Chatham Square, 20-40 Alfred Street
• The Hunsaker, Hermitage, Halcyon, and Haywards buildings at Chatham Place, Alfred Street
• The Meridian apartment block on Kenavon Drive
An application has also submitted seeking to replace dangerous cladding at two hotels.
READ MORE: Dangerous cladding to be removed from town centre hotels
Grenfell-type cladding in Reading
There are also four buildings in Reading which were found to have Grenfell-type cladding.
The cladding has been replaced at three of these buildings:
• Lawrence House (social housing)
• Queen’s Court (student accommodation)
• Crossway Point (social housing)
Works only still need to be finished at Hanover House (private flats), with planning permission granted in October 2020.
The works at Hanover House started at the end of 2020 and are currently expected to be completed by the end of 2021.
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