Plans have been approved for a new driving test centre in Reading, more than a month after the closure of the existing site.
The days of the existing test centre in Elgar Road South have been numbered ever since plans emerged to replace it with flats in 2021.
Despite plans for the Elgar Road South site being rejected by Reading Borough Council, a plan for 16 flats was approved by the government’s planning inspectorate last year.
The last day of testing at the Elgar Road site was March 22, with tests being conducted from a temporary site at the Holiday Inn Reading South since March 24, with no lessons being lost.
The tests are conducted by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, which applied to convert an office at Pacific House in Imperial Way, Whitley, into a driving test centre on March 21.
A letter from the DVSA states: “The facility at this site is required by DVSA to meet the local need for car driving tests and the government’s objective to reduce driving test waiting times.
“The site is on an established test route and provides appropriate internal space and car parking.
“The driving tests will start and finish on the site and will consist of a health and safety compliance check before the candidates leave the site to carry out the tests on pre-delegated routes on the local road network, returning just under an hour later.”
The site provides 10 parking spaces, with five additional spaces being leased by the DVSA at the Holiday Inn, a six-minute walk from Pacific House.
The plan shows the DVSA occupying Suite A of the building, which is on the ground floor.
The office will be staffed by five examiners and one manager. Each examiner can conduct up to seven tests per day, meaning 35 tests can be taken on a typical day.
There would also be the capacity to have a total of 12 examiners working from the site in the future.
The DVSA has argued it needs to address a ‘backlog’ of tests after it predicted around a million tests had been missed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Its letter states: “The backlog of driving tests, coupled with increased demand, has subsequently meant that there has been a continued post-pandemic surge in people seeking to complete their driving tests.
“However, there are insufficient test slots to meet the demand.
“As a result, learners are often left unable to find an available test for months in advance and are resorting to booking tests in areas of the UK miles away from their home to secure a test date.
“The DVSA is therefore actively and urgently working to invest in new test centres to address the backlog.”
The conversion of the office into a test centre was approved by the council on May 15.
You can view the application by typing reference PL/25/0438 into the council’s planning portal.
While the plan has been approved, the DVSA was not officially able to confirm the move at the time of writing.
A spokesperson said: “DVSA is currently negotiating the lease on a permanent new driving test centre for Reading.
“A new location has been identified and we will confirm the location as soon as we are able to.
“We thank driving instructors and learners for their patience and apologise for any inconvenience.”
