Flats and a convenience store are coming to the site of a former motorcycle shop in Reading which has been vacant for years.
The Smiths Motorcycle shop in Whitley Wood closed in 2018, with the former Berkshire Home Brew next door closing in 2018/19.
Now permission has finally been granted to replace these buildings with flats, two shops and a convenience store.
Elsewhere, a plan to replace a Sikh temple with 14 flats has been put on hold, and offices will be converted into flats in the heart of the town centre.
You can view each application by typing the reference in brackets into the council’s planning portal.
Shops and flats plan in Whitley Wood finally clears planning hurdle (PL/23/1793)
The dilapidated buildings at 142-144 Whitley Wood Lane are set to be replaced with three shops, an 11-bed house of multiple occupation (HMO) and three two-bed houses.
The buildings used to be occupied by Smiths Motorcycles and Berkshire Home Brew before both businesses closed.
One of the shop units will be turned into the Whitley Superstore, with the future occupants winning permission to sell alcohol from 7am to 11pm daily at a licensing meeting in July 2023.
The project to demolish and replace the buildings was approved on December 23, 2024.
Demolition of Sikh temple withdrawn (PL/24/0867)
A plan to demolish the Sikh temple in Cumberland Road, East Reading and replace it with two buildings containing 14 one-bed flats has been withdrawn.
The project emerged last November, which would have created eight flats in a new apartment block facing Cumberland Road, with the remaining six flats contained in a block to the rear.
However, before the project could be determined, the application was withdrawn by the Gurdwara Sikh Temple on December 23, 2024.
The temple was previously a Methodist Church before the Sikh community acquired it in 1976.
Conversion of town centre offices into flats (PL/23/0202 and PL/23/0203)
Unused office space at a listed building in Reading town centre can now be converted into seven apartments.
The building 13-15 Station Road is currently made up of offices.
The applicant Faye And Yara won approval to convert offices into a two-bed apartment and six one-bed flats on December 16, 2024.
The building is Grade II listed as it dates back to 1903 and is noted on the Historic England website for having an “exuberant mixture of Baroque Art Nouveau and Flemish styles.”
Conversion of terraced house into children’s home (PL/24/1433)
A care company has won permission to convert a six-bedroom HMO in Vastern Road into a children’s care home.
The existing house is an end-of-terrace home which is let out to individuals.
Now the Amicus Aspiring Care company has permission to convert it into a six-bed children’s home, in a decision made on December 18, 2024.
