Update as new Reading bar and shops near completion

New retail space which can include a cafe, restaurant, shop and the Siren Craft Brew bar has been created as part of the Station Hill Ebb & Flow apartments.

Now, the consortium in charge of the development has defined how long these businesses will be able to operate.

Elsewhere, the owner of the old Wellington Arms, which used to serve as a Greggs, has applied to make changes to the opening hours to allow a Turkish halal food centre to operate.

You can view each application by typing the reference in brackets into the council’s planning portal.

Opening hours for bar and retail space at Ebb & Flow (240369)

The unit that will be occupied by the Siren City Bar, the first bar in Reading by Berkshire brewery Siren Craft Brew in Friar Street, Reading. Credit: James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporting Service

The consortium in charge of the Station Hill development has submitted information about intended opening hours for the commercial units at the Ebb & Flow section of the development which was partly completed last year.

Berkshire brewery Siren Craft has already been confirmed for a bar space at Ebb & Flow in Friar Street.

The upcoming Siren Craft Brew bar in Reading town centre. The brewery would likely require advertising consent from Reading Borough Council for the signage. Credit: Siren Craft Brew

A plan submitted by the Station Hill consortium shows what it wants opening hours for the commercial units to be.

A gym and wellbeing unit will be run 24/7, with a restaurant operating from 8am to 11pm, a cafe from 7am to 11pm, a shop operating from 10am to 8pm and a bar (presumably Siren Craft Brew) operating from 12pm to midnight.

The consortium needed to submit this information to the council as part of the approval of the development back in 2019.

Hours change to convert Wellington Arms Greggs into Halal food centre (240288)

The closed Greggs at the old Wellington Arms in 72 Whitley Street, Katesgrove, now set to become a Turkish halal food centre which will be opening soon, according to signage. Credit: UGC

The project to bring a shopping unit at an old pub in a busy area of Reading back into use is moving ahead.

Turkish Halal Food Centre Express has taken over the former Wellington Arms pub in Whitley Street, which served as a Greggs from 2018 until its closure this February.

READ MORE: Closed Greggs at pub to become Turkish food centre

The building owner Sykes Capital has applied to change the operating hours for the shop unit on behalf of the Halal food business.

It has applied to change the opening hours from 6am to 8pm Monday to Saturday and 7am to 5pm on Sundays and bank holidays to 6am to 11pm each day.

Conversion of office into flat near town centre (240351)

The floorplan for the conversion of an office into a two bedroom flat in Southampton Street, near Reading town centre. Credit: Vorbild Architecture

The owner of an office building in Southampton Street near the town centre has applied to convert an office on the second floor of the building into a home.

The flat would come with two bedrooms, with one having an ensuite shower toilet, a separate shower toilet for the other occupant and the usual living facilities.

The owner won approval to build an extension to the building (reference 220204) to create an additional two-bedroom flat in April 2022.