Little progress has been made on a controversial plan for a drive-thru takeaway in Reading.
There is an approved plan to build a drive-thru restaurant and hot food takeaway at the Stadium Way Industrial Estate near the busy Norcot junction.
The project proved unpopular with neighbours, with concerns that the intensification of traffic would lead to long queues at the roundabout, which connects Oxford Road, Norcot Road and Wigmore Lane.
Furthermore, Barry Elford, who runs Barry’s Burger Bar from a lay-by in Scours Lane argued approval of the project would be “heart-wrenching” as it could severely impact his business.
A staff member in the van was busy serving customers when the Local Democracy Reporting Service visited the site on Wednesday, February 5.
It is understood that the Greggs chain bakery could take over the site according to planning documents submitted back in April 2022.
The drive-thru was approved by government-appointed planning inspector N Robinson after an appeal was lodged by applicants Cube Real Estate.
No work has started on the project yet.
Before construction can begin, a series of conditions outlined in the allowed appeal must be met.
One of these relates to the build quality, which must reach a ‘Very Good’ BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) rating.
The BREEAM method is used to evaluate a building’s environmental impact and sustainability performance.
The company Weybourne Ltd submitted an application to change the wording of conditions to submit details of BREEAM assessments at a later date.
This application, reference PL/24/0852, was approved in September last year.
Recommending approval, council planning officer Ethne Humphreys judged that the changes would allow the development to progress without removing the requirement for the drive-thru takeaway to be built to a ‘Very Good’ standard.
A plan detailing the hard and soft landscaping that would be undertaken on the site was submitted last July.
However, according to the council’s planning portal, this application, reference PL/24/0937, was withdrawn on October 15, 2024.
The original plan for the food takeaway was rejected by the council’s planning applications committee in September 2022.
The project was opposed by Kentwood Labour councillors Glenn Dennis and Mark Keeping, who ran a survey that 21 residents responded to stating their concerns about traffic queues.
At the time, Cllr Dennis said: “We disagreed with the development based on traffic impacts on the Norcot roundabout, which is sensitive to changes in traffic flow and interruptions.
“We were not against Greggs per se, it’s where it is and the loss of green space.”
The loss of green space was incorporated into the council’s refusal of the project.
Elsewhere along the A4 Bath Road in Southcote, a project to build a drive-thru Greggs is almost complete.
