Progress on logistical hub at Campus Reading business park

A project to create four new warehouses at the Reading International Business Park is carrying ahead apace.

The construction company has successfully lobbied for a change in when essential details must be submitted.

That is just one of the plans that have been decided by Reading Borough Council recently.

Elsewhere, progress is being made to convert a former benefits office into more than 50 flats, and a plan for a new bungalow in Norcot has been rejected.

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

Progress on logistics hub at business park (PL/26/0017)

Progress is being made on four new logistical warehouses at Campus Reading, also known as the Reading International Business Park.

The site is passed by thousands of people each day, and is situated between the main Campus Reading building and the Premier Inn.

The site owner has won permission to submit a BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) assessment at a later date than originally agreed.

Allowing the change, planning officer Alison Amoah stated that it would be acceptable to conduct a final BREAAM assessment six months after occupation, rather than before occupation.

Update on conversion of benefits office into flats (PL/26/0037)

Eaton Court in Oxford Road, Reading. (Image: Google Maps)

Enabling planning work to allow the conversion of a former benefits office into 52 flats near Reading town centre has been conditionally approved.

Eaton Court in Oxford Road was previously used as a centre for health and disability assessments for the Department for Work and Pensions before closing in 2022.

Principal planning officer Antony Scoles approved the removal of existing plant equipment from the building, as long as no new equipment is installed.

Furthermore, the owner's building contractors must follow a construction management plan.

Norcot bungalow plan rejected (PL/25/1431)

The refused plan for a two-bed bungalow in Norcot Road, Tilehurst. (Image: Greg Farrell)

A plan to add a bungalow within the curtilage of an existing house in Norcot Road has been refused.

The applicant wanted to add a two-bed bungalow next to the existing house with parking and a shared road access. 

But planning officers objected to the project, as it would have led to an 'unwarranted loss' of trees and biodiversity on the site. 

It would have also resulted in the demolition of a garage that might be hosting roosting bats.

Advertising for grocers at vacant shop rejected (PL/25/1802)

Russell House in Oxford Road, Reading, where the Eco Market has opened. The shop unit at the front of the business has been vacant for around a decade. (Image: Reading Borough Council)

Elsewhere in Oxford Road, an advertising plan for a shop unit that has been vacant for 10 years has been refused. 

While Russell House has been vacant for around a decade, it has recently been brought back to life as the Eco Market halal convenience store. 

A project to bring the former Leightons Opticians premises back into use was approved in July 2024.

But planning officer Marcelina Rejwerska ruled Eco Market's signage and awning was unsympathetic, excessive and represented a cluttered design, with a rejection notice being issued on February 6.