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A debate in Reading is raging over a 620 home development at the old Royal Mail Depot site that has 94 car parking spaces included in it.
Of those car parking spaces, 70 would be contained in basement levels of the towers for residential use, and 24 would be on street for a mix of office, retail and community use.
While some have argued the amount of spaces provided is ‘inadequate’, others are relieved as more spaces ‘could cause traffic chaos’.
The 620-home development, called ‘Reading Metropolitan’, involves the demolition of the existing buildings at 80 Caversham Road to be replaced with residential towers and townhouses.
READ MORE: Plan for 620 homes and one of Reading’s tallest towers approved
Exisiting residents of Reading have clashed over whether it contains enough parking spaces.
Commenting on Facebook, Andrew Lin said: “Let me guess, 620 homes and they will build 94 parking spots so no one can park anywhere.”
Nadine Mason argued efforts are being made to dissuade car use as much as possible.
She said: “In the not too distant future, only the high end earners will be able to afford to own a car.
“In the meantime they will do everything possible to make car ownership inconvenient, which includes no or very expensive parking.”
Reading Metropolitan was approved at a planning committee meeting on Wednesday, March 30, with councillors on the committee clashing over whether enough car parking spaces were included in the plan.
Councillor Simon Robinson (Conservative, Peppard) said: “There are 94 spaces.
“Is that really adequate for such a development?”
Councillor Tony Page (Labour, Abbey) argued less spaces are needed as the development would be in a central location.
He said: “Among millennials, car usage is plummeting.”
Reacting to cllr Page’s statement, Grahame Roberts said: “94 car park places adequate?
“I certainly don’t relish yet more traffic chaos, but who on earth would buy a flat where they simply can’t have a car?”
READ MORE: Plan to replace Aldi, The Range and TGI Fridays with 600 flats slammed
While the current site owners Hermes have declined to comment, they did direct us to a planning officer Jonathan Markwell’s report, who summarised that parking provision and parking is acceptable and complies with local and national policies.
Hermes submitted a data from the Trip Rate Information Computer System (TRICS), which is used to predict how many journeys a new developmeny could create.
The TRICS data predicted that journeys would actually decline to and from the site once the development is built.
You can see the data below:
As the Reading Metropolitan development has been approved on an outline basis, the developers must now submit an application detailing the appearance of the development.
You can view the application yourself by typing reference 182252 into the counci’s planning portal here.
Note – comments have been adjusted to contain the factually correct amount of spaces in the plan.
