Plan to add 100 hotel rooms to offices in Reading refused

A developer's plan to add floors to the prominent Great Brighams Mead building near the train station has been defeated.

Elsewhere, yet more changes are on the way at a large Co-op store which is set to reopen next month, and a charity can begin work on providing more shelter for homeless people in the town.

You can view each project featured by typing the reference in brackets into Reading Borough Council's new planning portal.

Apart-hotel rooms at defunct offices refused (PL/23/0745)

What the two floor extension to Great Brighams Mead would have looked like if the clocktower is removed. Credit: Peek Architecture and Design

Kings Oak Miami, the company that owns the Great Brighams Mead, has had its plan to add floors to the building shot down.

The developer was hoping to add 100 apart-hotel rooms to the defunct offices, which were previously occupied by Three.

However, the plan was rejected as the council's assistant director of planning argued d be out of keeping with, and harmful to, the character of the existing building and surrounding area.

Furthermore, it was judged that lack of detail regarding entrance and exit and a reception desk to the proposed apart-hotel rooms would result in disturbance to future occupants, as planning permission was granted in June 2021 to convert the building into 110 apartments.

Changes to Co-op approved (PL/24/0421)

The Coop in School Road, Tilehurst. Credit: Google Maps

Changes are coming to the Co-op in School Road, Tilehurst which is undergoing extensive improvement works.

The new Co-op is getting a rebrand with a new grey background with blue and white lettering.

The supermarket company has also won permission to install a new fire escape door at the front, with new louvered doors at the rear as well.

The changes were approved on August 14. While store improvements are taking place, the Co-op opened a pop-up store inside the building.

The work is expected to be completed in September.

Salvation Army temporary shelter for homeless approved (PL/24/0790)

The plans for four rooms to shelter homeless people at the Willow House Salvation Army centre in Reading. (Image: JYM Partnership)

The Salvation Army has won approval to install a modular building to provide temporary accommodation for homeless people at its Willow House site.

The project involves installing the building for a maximum of 10 years in the garden of the Willow House hostel, located in Willow Street near the town centre.

Each unit comes with a bed and a toilet. The plan was granted on August 13.

New homes in Caversham neighbourhood refused (PL/24/0528)

(Image: Cookham Design)

A plan to build two new semi-detached homes in a Caversham neighbourhood has been rejected. 

The developer Gravitas Property Group was seeking to build the new houses to the rear of an existing home in Queens Road, Caversham.

However, the project was rejected, with council planning officer Ethne Humphreys judging that it would result in a cramped and overly dominant form of development.