New plans have been submitted to build a block of nine flats on empty land in east Reading, after a previous plan for 11 flats was rejected.
Plans to build a block of 11 flats at 1a Eldon Road were refused in June 2020 due to a series of concerns, including the impact on listed buildings, with one neighbour calling it a “concrete monstrosity”.
Developer The Faculty Ltd, which already has planning permission to build seven flats on the site, granted in March 2019 despite opposition from neighbours.
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It is now proposing a three-to-five storey building with nine flats.
The Eldon Road site was previously home to the Mulberry House dental surgery but the building was demolished as part of the plans approved in 2019.
Attempts to increase the development to a 11-flat three-to-five storey block were rejected by council officers who raised concerns over the impact on nearby listed buildings and the character and appearance of the Eldon Square Conservation Area.
They also said the development would be visually dominating and overbearing and unacceptably harmful to trees.
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The latest proposal attempts to overcome the concerns about the impact on nearby listed buildings and visual dominance by reducing the size, height and width of several parts of the development, and using different materials.
No trees will be removed under the new plan.
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