A site near Reading town centre that has stood empty for around 15 years and was earmarked for more than 600 homes will remain dormant for the foreseeable future.
The Royal Mail depot site in Caversham Road was first established in 1989 as a hub for sorting, storing, and distributing mail.
But postal operations at the site ended in 2009 after relocation to Gillette Way in Whitley.
The site was temporarily used by Network Rail as a major construction hub for the £895 million Reading Station redevelopment completed in 2014, and his been vacant for a substantial amount of time.
The Hermes Property Unit Trust unveiled plans to demolish the depot and transform it into ‘Reading Metropolitan’, a development of 620 homes with new offices, retail and community space.
It would have featured a new 24-storey building close to Reading train station, with buildings fronting onto Caversham Road reaching seven to eight storeys.
But the project is no longer going ahead four years after Reading Borough Council approved it.
The project was discussed at a meeting of the council’s planning applications committee in March 2022.
Hermes subsequently secured a section 106 legal agreement with the council in April 2023, effectively allowing the development to go ahead.
However, the planning permission has since lapsed due to inactivity, which has been confirmed by Richard Eatough, a principal planning officer at the council.
Once permission is granted, developers usually have three years to start work before the consent expires.
There have been no visible changes at the site since the approval, so the permission has officially lapsed.
It is understood that Reading Metropolitan has effectively been cancelled due to it being economically unviable.
During the meeting where the project was approved, councillor Tony Page expressed fears that the site was “ripe for onward sale.”
Speaking on behalf of Hermes, planning agent Barry Kitcherside said: “This is not somebody trading in a planning consent, this is somebody that wants to deliver the development, and that’s very, very important, my client is not of that ilk on this particular land holding.
“My client is engaging with a development partner. We want to do this scheme my client has got the money to do it, he’s got third parties, we’re ready to rock up and work on the development.
“This is not going to be passed under the table; that’s not the desire here. To achieve financial viability, we have got to deliver the right product.”
You can view the lapsed application by typing reference PL/18/2252 into the council’s planning portal.
The Hermes property trust was merged with Legal & General managed property fund in August last year.
