AN EMPTY shop on Reading’s Caversham Road will be demolished and turned into housing.
The former home of outdoor specialist store Carters will become 60 homes under the plans from Bellway Homes.
Carters was launched in Thatcham in 1820, then traded from Castle Street before moving to Caversham Road in 1962.
The store closed in December 2019, and last year Reading Borough Council’s planning committee granted permission to demolish the existing building and replace it with 21 one-bedroom flats, 18 two-bedroom flats, 11 three-bedroom flats and 10 four-bedroom houses.
These will be built within three apartment buildings and two terraces of houses, with 30 car parking spaces on site and a Car Club space provided off site.
Councillors across the political spectrum praised the proposal for bringing a dormant site into use.
“I’m especially pleased to see a brownfield site come into use, especially now the Carters shop is closed, and I’m really pleased to see it meet 30% affordable housing off the bat, haven’t got to moan about that, that’s great,” said Cllr James Moore (Liberal Democrats, Tilehurst).
Cllr Simon Robinson (Conservative, Emmer Green) said: “I welcome this, I think it’s a good design, a good mix of development, I’m certainly happy with what I’ve seen.”
And Cllr Tony Page (Labour, Abbey) said: “The Carters site is an interesting one, it’s been well used, it’s been very much an established feature but of course run down over a number of years.
“At its heyday, it did also cause complaints from residents of Swansea Road, so we shouldn’t think that the former activities on that site were all a land of milk and honey.
“The transition over the last few years to a fairly rundown site has not been one that’s been welcomed, so this application is a good one.”
Cllr Micky Leng (Labour, Whitley) praised the developer for providing policy compliant affordable housing, with a focus on two- and four-bedroom homes.
Of the 60 homes, 18 will be affordable: seven one-bedroom flats, four two-bedroom flats, five three-bedroom flats and two four-bedroom houses.
Cllr Matt Yeo (Labour, Caversham) raised concerns about future drivers trying to leave the site onto Caversham Road having to turn right to do so.
A planning officer said the highways team have worked with Bellway Homes to ensure the access road allows for two-way access to avoid vehicles queuing to get into the site.
The scheme was unanimously approved by the council’s planning committee on Wednesday, February 1.
