A plan for flats near a reputed ‘prostitution hotspot’ in Reading has cleared a crucial hurdle.
The junction of Oxford Road and Western Elms Avenue has a reputation for prostitution, which led the Western Elms Surgery to secure its car park.
A developer has received full permission to replace a row of garages with 13 flats.
That is just one of the plans that have been approved by Reading Borough Council recently.
Elsewhere, a plan is progressing for an electric vehicle charging facility at a supermarket, and a new family home in Caversham has been given the go-ahead.
You can view each approved plan by typing the reference in brackets into the council’s planning portal.
New flats at ‘notorious spot’ clear crucial hurdle (PL/21/1626)
First Avenue Estates has won approval to replace a row of garages with a new three-storey building containing 13 flats at a reported prostitution hotspot.
Western Elms Avenue has a reputation for prostitution, with councillors noting it “a notorious spot” for anti-social behaviour during a planning applications committee meeting in November 2023.
The councillors approved the application, subject to First Avenue Estates entering into a section 106 legal agreement with the council, which was signed on February 18.
The building will contain six one-bed, four two-bed and three three-bed apartments with 16 car parking spaces being provided.
Electric vehicle charging coming to Morrisons (PL/25/1640)
The Morrisons car park in Reading is set to host an electric vehicle charging hub.
The Motor Fuel Group applied to convert 44 existing parking spaces into eight electric charging bays opposite the fuel station.
This involves installing four new chargers with canopies to protect them from rain.
Advertising consent for the canopy installation was approved on February 19.
New family home in Caversham approved (PL/24/1035)
A site owner has won permission to build a four-bedroom home on a former garden in Caversham.
The site previously served as a garden for a property in Henley Road, but is accessed from Maytree Walk.
A plan for a new home on the site was previously approved in 2021, but has since lapsed.
Judging the new plan for a two-storey home acceptable, planning officer Anthony Scoles ruled that the project would provide a good-sizedfamily dwelling, with sufficient amenity space, located in a way that ensures no impacts on neighbouring properties.
Change to flats in Caversham (PL/25/1693)
A change to upcoming flats in Caversham has been approved.
The building in Bridge Street is currently made up of a retail unit on the ground floor, with a two-bedroom self-contained flat on the upper floors, although work has commenced on a recently approved application to convert part of the ground floor into a self-contained flat and the upper floors to a
five-bedroom HMO.
The change involves turning the ground floor into a one-bed flat, rather than a two-bed flat, which council officers advised was more feasible.
