Concerns over intensified traffic and parking problems have been raised over a plan for a new weather station at the University of Reading.
The government property agency has submitted a plan to build a new headquarters for the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECWMF).
The project would involve the demolition of a temporary buildings block called TOB1 at Earley Gate and replacing them with a four-storey HQ.
The existing buildings are used to house the university’s School of Arts and private businesses.
They are located in Earley, which falls within Wokingham Borough Council’s jurisdiction.
Because the buildings are situated near the borough boundary, the project has been discussed at a Reading Borough Council meeting, where its impact on the town was debated.
At a meeting, officers and councillors raised concerns about the loss of parking and an increased number of car journeys on East Reading roads.
The plan increase the number of car parking spaces from 146 to 216.
However, council officers raised concerns that all of the parking spaces would be reserved for ECWMF use. Currently, parking spaces are used by students and private businesses.
While councillors welcomed the benefits of the proposed development, they sympathised with officers concerns about traffic and parking.
Cllr Josh Williams (Green Park) said: “This could be a fantastic and prestigious development, this could bring a great number of jobs to Reading as well as Wokingham, but it has to be done right.”
Cllr Andrew Hornsby-Smith (Labour, Church) had view of the plans at an initial exhibition and said: “I thought it looked really fantastic in terms of what it was trying to achieve.
“The building looks great, it’s very very eco-friendly and it’s encouraging cross academic fertilisation between the meteorological office and the rest of the university.”
However, Cllr Hornsby-Smith agreed that a proper transport assessment is needed.
Both Cllr Williams and Cllr Micky Leng (Labour, Whitley) noted that a public consultation for the scheme on Wokingham Borough’s planning website ended on November 9, giving Reading council and neighbours insufficient time to respond.
Meanwhile, Cllr Leng welcomed a response from ECMWF as a result of its relocation to the Whiteknights Campus from its current headquarters in Shinfield Road.
Planning officer Thomas Bradfield said in a report that a transport assessment failed to take into account visitor journeys and the impact trips would have on Whiteknights Road and Wokingham Road in Reading Borough.
An objection to the plan for the new ECMWF headquarters from Reading Borough Council has been sent to Wokingham Borough Council following the Reading planning applications meeting on Wednesday, December 6.
The objection states that the government property agency has failed properly assess future trip generations and loss of existing parking could result in unauthorised on-street parking in surrounding roads.
The plan will ultimately be determined by Wokingham Borough Council.
The application can be seen by searching for reference 232475 into the Wokingham Borough Council planning portal.
