Construction of three residential buildings (Use Class C3) ranging in height from 5 to 20 storeys above Broad Street Mall(Site E to provide 42 units, Site B to provide up to 134 Units and Site A to provide up to 148 units) and provision of a podium level amenity area, Construction of a 16 storey building on South Court comprising ground and first floor retail(Use Class A1/A2/A3) and residential over upper floors (Use Class C3, Site C to provide up to 98 units), Creation of ground floor retail units (Use Class A1/A3/A4) fronting Dusseldorf Way and ground floor retail (Use Class A1/A2/A3) fronting Queens Walk, all necessary enabling and alteration works required within the existing Broad Street Mall basement, ground and upper floors, Associated car park alterations, provision of servicing and refuse storage, cycle parking, public realm, landscape, and other associated works (amended description)

The Executive Director for Economic Growth and Neighbourhood Services submitted a report on the above application.  An update report was tabled at the meeting which set out further consultation responses received, further appraisals of affordable housing, landscape, ecology, transport and wind/microclimate, and listed drawings and submitted documents.  The recommendation had been amended accordingly, including an additional head of terms for the Section 106 agreement and additional conditions.

A further update report was tabled at the meeting presenting a paper received from Historic England’s Historic Places Panel of their review ‘Reading Town Centre: The Abbey Quarter, Minster Quarter and Oxford Road’. 

Comments and objections were received and considered.

Objectors Evelyn Williams and Anthony Ihringer, and Tim Vaughan, Gary Lewis and Chris Beard representing the applicant, attended the meeting and addressed the Committee on this application. 

Resolved –

(1)      That the Deputy Director of Planning, Transport and Regulatory Services be authorised to grant full planning permission for application 182137/FUL, subject to no new substantive consultation responses by 20 March 2020, subject to satisfactory wind/microclimate verification and subject to completion of a S106 legal agreement by 23 March 2020 (unless a later date be agreed by the Deputy Director of Planning, Transport and Regulatory Services) to secure the Heads of Terms set out in the original report and the additional Heads of Terms set out in the update report, with the financial contribution of £633,000 “as mitigation to ensure improved capacity at local parks within Abbey Ward” to be amended to refer instead to open space in the town centre local to the development;

(2)      That, in the event of the requirements set out not being met, the Deputy Director of Planning, Transport and Regulatory Services be authorised to refuse permission;

(3)      That planning permission be subject to the conditions and informatives recommended in the original report, with the additional conditions recommended in the update report and an additional condition, with wording to be developed with the applicant and the car park leaseholder, to require additional roof greening to cover the car park, with that condition to be brought back to the Committee for approval;

(4)      That the Planning Applications Committee request that further consideration be given by the Strategic Environment, Planning and Transport Committee on options to secure additional open space in the Minster Quarter area, including the provision of new green decking over the Inner Distribution Road.