A plan to bring a Reading town centre pub that has been vacant for years back to life has been approved.
The Horn has been shut since June 2021, when the pub company that managed it decided not to renew its lease.
A plan to restore the building and provide residential flats above has been given the go-ahead.
That is just one of the plans decided by Reading Borough Council’s planning department recently.
Elsewhere, flats that replace a car centre in East Reading have been completed, and the owner of a terraced home is in trouble after building a laundry room covering the whole of a garden without permission.
You can view each decided application by typing the reference in brackets into the council’s planning portal.
Horn pub restoration approved PL/24/1213
A plan to restore The Horn pub in St Mary’s Butts has been granted permission.
The project involves stripping out the bar fittings, finishes and kitchen equipment, and works to partition walls to reconfigure the building.
However, the initial plan to add three flats upstairs was scaled back, with the approved plan providing two one-bed flats instead.
Planning officer Marcelina Rejwerska’s report states: “The proposal has been amended at the request of the officers, due to concerns relating to an unsympathetic layout and harm to historic fabric associated with excessive partitioning works to facilitate the subdivision.”
The report states that the first floor already has lawful use for two flats.
Flats in East Reading completed (PL/18/2079)
The apartments that have replaced a car centre in Wokingham Road have been completed.
The former Charvil Car Centre was demolished in 2019 to make way for five two-bed and two one-bed flats.
The build was completed in 2022; however, a fresh legal document, called a section 106 legal agreement laying out developer contributions, was signed on November 10.
The agreement was made between the landowner, their mortgagee and the council.
Homeowner in trouble as garden is built over (PL/25/1285)
A homeowner is in trouble after building over the entirety of a garden in Great Knollys Street to create a laundry room.
The owner submitted a part retrospective plan for a laundry room that covers the entirety of their garden space.
However, the project was judged damaging to the privacy of neighbours.
A photo shows the structure providing a direct view into the neighbour’s property, with the extension being rejected as inappropriate on November 5.
New home in Caversham approved (PL/23/0549)
A new family-sized home has been approved at an unused site in Emmer Green.
The developer has won permission to build the house at a cleared site in Tredegar Road.
Planning officer Anthony Scoles stated: “The provision of good-sized
dwelling, with sufficient amenity space, located in a way that ensures no impacts on neighbouring properties, is considered positive and weighs in favour of the proposal.”
While the report noted that trees would be lost, Mr Scoles judged that this would be offset by an appropriate method to secure biodiversity net gain.
