Planning overview: historic buildings, hotel facings, rental cars and homes
Chester T. Dean
3 min read
This week’s planning summary of decisions taken in Reading includes the restoration of historic buildings in the city center, the replacement of dangerous coatings at two hotels, a new rental car site and new homes.
All nominations for this week’s roundup are decided by Reading Borough Council (RBC).
Listed buildings in the city center to be restored
READ MORE: Plans submitted to restore listed downtown buildings to original state
The historic listed buildings in the city center will be transformed into their original state after being altered for many years.
Plans submitted by 159 Reading TE to council to renovate the 149-150 Friar Street and 1-4 Queen Victoria Street building and restore it to its original condition were approved by council this week.
The building is “currently in poor condition and has been significantly altered and changed from its original condition on the ground floor,” according to 159 Reading TE.
The plans received no objections, but received a positive comment from a resident.
Ryan Shook said: “I have reviewed the Planning, Heritage, Design and Access statement and am impressed with the intention to restore, enhance and invest in this building in a key location. . It all seems positive to me. ”
Car showroom to become another car rental site
An old car showroom will be demolished and replaced with a car rental site.
The council granted permission to demolish the vacant building at 171 Basingstoke Road and construct an Enterprise Rent-A-Car office and car rental site.
Enterprise Rent-A-Car already got permission this year in March for another new location in Reading at Cow Lane.
READ MORE: New car rental location in Reading’s Cow Lane, next to the cycle and pedestrian path
The two new sites will join the three Enterprise Rent-A-Car agencies already in Reading, at:
- Q-park, Chatham Street, in the center of Reading
- Boulton Road, south of Reading
- 796 Oxford Road, west of Reading
Two approved houses
Plans to build two houses on empty land on Oxford Road have been approved by the council.
Two one bedroom houses will be built on a lot behind 578 and 580-584 Oxford Road.
Council refused a similar plan in 2012, but it was canceled by town planning inspectors on appeal.
That council said the latter plan would only be slightly larger and that the slight scaling up would not be sufficiently damaging to warrant a ground for refusal.
Planning officers concluded that the benefits of the development outweighed all concerns.
Hazardous coatings in hotels will be removed
Dangerous coatings from two hotels in Reading city center will be removed.
The 14-story Ibis and Novotel hotels on Friar Street have “dangerous in case of fire” cladding.
Reading Borough Council (RBC) approved the request by building owner Accor Invest to remove and replace the metal panel cladding.
LMA Architects, who submitted the proposals on behalf of Accor Invest, said: “The flammability and proximity of the insulated metal panels to the escape route and neighboring buildings make the coating dangerous in the event of a fire.
