A project to replace a steak restaurant at a hotel in Reading has been completed.
The Beefeater at the Premier Inn at Reading Gateway closed in July 2024, as part of a strategic repositioning by the corporation Whitbread, which owns both brands.
Now changes to the restaurant space and the creation of nine rooms are complete, which has been acknowledged by Reading Borough Council.
That is just one of the planning decisions made by the council recently.
Elsewhere, an adjusted plan to convert a former benefits centre into flats has been rejected, as has a digital screen installation outside a busy fuel station.
You can view each decided application by typing the reference in brackets into the council’s planning portal.
Conversion of former Beefeater completed (PL/26/0325)
The former Beefeater at the Premier Inn at Reading Gateway has been converted into a changed restaurant space and nine hotel rooms.
Whitbread has been repositioning its business towards a ‘focused hotels’ model, which has included closing some of its branded restaurants in order to add guest rooms and create more compact, hotel‑integrated dining spaces.
The project at Reading Gateway, first approved in December 2024, has seen external changes and internal reconfiguration to create seven bedrooms and two ‘non model’ bedrooms.
The council approved building regulation compliance for the project on April 2.
Benefits office conversion rejected (PL/26/0171)
A new plan to convert the Eaton Court building into 52 flats in Oxford Road has been refused.
It previously served as a benefits assessment centre, but a plan to convert it into 40 one-bed and 12 two-bed flats was approved under reference PL/25/1025 last September.
However, the building owner submitted alternative designs for how the flats would be configured.
But because work has already started on the approved conversion project, the developer can no longer receive prior approval for the offices.
Digital screen outside fuel station rejected (PL/26/0147)
A plan for a digital screen outside the BP Londis fuel station in London Road has been refused.
The applicant, Wildstone Estates, was seeking permission for a 2.4m x 1.23m LED screen with adverts changing every 10 seconds near the exit of the fuel station.
However, planning officer Anthony Scoles suggested the screen could distract drivers, citing Crash Map data showing six slight collisions and two serious crashes
The plan was therefore rejected on April 7.
Trees for new Lidl at retail park (PL/26/0263)
Four trees have been planted alongside the opening of the new Lidl at the Reading Retail Park in Oxford Road.
The planting of the trees was a planning condition for the approval of the Lidl, which opened at the end of February.
Submitted photos show the installation of four pits and the trees planted within them.
