Signage for a food store with two different spellings of the word ‘centre’ in Reading has been rejected.
The Turkish Halal Food Centre in Whitley Street, Katesgrove, opened in the summer of 2024, and has been selling butchered halal meat, fresh produce and groceries ever since.
The store has both of the spellings of the word ‘centre’ in its advertising – both the English version and ‘center’ – the Americanised version.
While the words ‘Turkish Halal Food Centre’ can be seen on the east-facing facade, visible mostly from Whitley Street and people approaching from Christchurch Road, ‘Turkish Halal Food Center’ can be seen on the north-facing facade.
The ‘Center’ spelling is visible for all people entering the store and those travelling up the hill.
The signage was installed following the closure of the Greggs in February 2024.
The building was previously the Wellington Arms pub, which closed in 2012.
Although the building is not protected, it is situated within the Christchurch Conservation Area, which imposes rules on development designed to protect the character of the area.
The owner of the store applied for retrospective permission for the signage in an application to Reading Borough Council.
But the application was rejected by the council’s planning department, with officer Gary Miles calling it an ‘unattractive and obtrusive feature in the street’.
An appeal to the government’s planning inspectorate was submitted last August, but was dismissed by the appointed inspector.
The dismissal of the appeal was acknowledged at a planning applications committee meeting on January 7.
Councillor Kathryn McCann (Green, Redlands) pointed out the spelling abnormality during the discussion.
She said: “There is actually a typo on that sign that doesn’t help, the centre is spelt differently on each side, one has the American spelling and one side has the UK spelling, which doesn’t help the aesthetic in general.”
The dismissal was also welcomed by cllr Karen Rowland (Labour, Abbey) who stated that businesses need to recognise the importance of conservation areas and the rules in the council’s shopfront supplementary planning document (SPD).
The SPD adopted in 2022 lays out appropriate shopfront designs and the preservation of the heritage of buildings.
Cllr Rowland said: “We want a good-looking town, we want our retailers to do well in a town which looks good and inviting.
“The SPD especially notes and lays out that when you are in a conservation area that are even more things you need to think about, because this is in a really beautiful building, so it’s quite a shame that people aren’t paying attention to that, and I was just encourage retailers to note when they are in a conservation area, because they may not know or think about it, but it is important.”
The appeal was dismissed last month.
You can view the refused application by typing reference PL/25/0866 into the council’s planning portal.
This decision is separate from an allowed appeal for a digital screen to replace sheet advertising above the store entrance, approved last August.
