Two big Reading developments to change face of town: ‘People probably won’t get sunshine’

Two developments near Reading station are set to change the face of the town forever, but one campaign group say the blueprints are overbearing and say “people probably won’t get sunshine”. A plot of land on Vastern Road and an area of Caversham Road are set to be turned into residential blocks, despite concerns.

David Neale, secretary of The Bell Tower Community Association, detailed such issues at a council meeting last Wednesday (March 30). Speaking to BerkshireLive, he said that the frontage of the buildings “would be overbearing” and “totally change the character” of the area.

On March 30, Reading Borough Council’s planning applications committee unanimously approved plans to build 620 homes on the former Royal Mail depot site at 80 Caversham Road. However, only 15.81% of them will be affordable despite the local authority’s adopted policy in March 2021 stipulating major developments should “at least” have one-third.

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Meanwhile, just down the road, the developers for the former SSE site at 55 Vastern Road will be building dwellings that will range from one to 11 storeys whilst offering zero affordable homes. The council was set to reject the plans but the applicant appealed to the Planning Inspectorate who has now granted planning permission.

These developments won’t just bring residential zones to the area but a few retail spaces as well. The Caversham Road development will offer a flexible ground floor shop, financial and professional services or a restaurant/café and a community centre, and car parking.

Former SSE building concerns

Vastern Road will have retail space as well and a pedestrian link from Christchurch Bridge to Vastern Road. The site sits at the old SSE building, which is a locally listed building that will be demolished in the process of this development.

David said that another issue that should have been more carefully considered is how these developments could affect the view. The Planning Inspectorate’s report details how the character assessment identified the Thames opposite the site as part of the King’s Meadows character area, which has “high sensitivity to tall buildings”. The document does also note, however, that the south area is an “appropriate” location for tall buildings.

David also expressed concerns over how the buildings could affect biodiversity. The Planning Inspectorate notes that there is an “overriding sense of generous spaciousness and verdancy” nearby. This is expected to be mitigated, according to the Planning Inspectorate.

Ex-Royal Mail depot plans ‘overbearing’

David explained that the Caversham Road development will be “overbearing” and “adversely” affect the setting as the “enormous great blocks” will be overshadowing buildings, such as the nearby locally listed Victorian malt house. What’s more, the scale of the development is far too large, according to David, and those who choose to live in the dwellings “probably won’t get any sunshine”.

He said: “We understand the need for flats and we understand the need for that site to be redeveloped and residential is likely to be a good way forward. Our biggest concern, though, is the scale of the development. Particularly along Caversham Road, it’s much too tall compared with the other side.

“There are eight storeys on one side and only three on the other. We also looked at the local plan and noticed that for the entire area of the two developments together, they were only talking about 640 – 960 houses but this development is showing 620 on its own.

“Even in relation to the local plan, it represents a higher density development than would be expected. There’s a lack of usable green space within the developments. It’s all totally enclosed by tower blocks – it probably won’t get any sunshine. So it doesn’t really seem to be pleasant for the residents either.”

The council’s committee report notes that there will be a “habitat enhancement scheme” and works to mitigate any effects of environmental damage, but there are not any references to green space provisions.

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