The redevelopment of Newbury’s Kennet Centre comes up before West Berkshire Council – again – tomorrow (Wednesday).
Parking is likely to be high on the discussion agenda again.
The view of Cheap Street and the proposed Kennet Shopping development
Voices against the scheme on the grounds of it offering no affordable housing, and therefore against council policy, and all being buy to rent, have been heard.
Others against it for ‘making Newbury look like Reading’ and ‘dwarfing’ the character of the market town have also been repeatedly and significantly made.
Attempts to approve the 427 flat scheme were filibustered out at a four-and-a-half hour meeting in November, after being kicked down the road at another previous four-hour planning meeting in September.
The proposed Kennet Shopping centre development from Market Street
So one way or the other, they have to decide this week. Then – if approved, Newbury can look forward to being a building site for the next three-and-a-half years.
Then to the horror of conservationists, the 427 new multi-storey flats will go up – all as buy to rents, as the scheme is considered ‘unviable’ for the usual percentage of affordable housing required by the council’s own policy.
“Given the significant need in West Berkshire for affordable housing, I see this as a gross failure of this development and one that should be given great rather than significant weight in the planning balance,” Louise Sturgess (Lib Dem, Newbury Central) told the last meeting.
As for the parking – the highways team at the council says the potential growth in traffic generation would not exceed the levels experienced when the Kennet Centre was at its peak as a shopping centre.
The proposal for dwellings would however result in increased congestion during the morning and evening peak times.
Access to the proposal would be achieved via two access points and this would be enabled by two way traffic being permitted on Bartholomew Street.
The proposed Kennet Shopping centre development from Market Street
A total of 475 car parking spaces were proposed, meeting the requirement for 471 spaces.
However, the need for these parking spaces to be dual use for retail and residential was a complication.
Survey results indicated that this would be acceptable from Monday to Friday, but there would be some overflow at weekends.
In this situation, motorists would be directed to the railway station multistorey car park on Market Street, which has a number of vacant spaces at weekends.
It was proposed to update existing signage indicating available spaces across Newbury town centre.
The cost of this – at £1m – would be shared equally between the council and the applicant.
The applicant was also proposing improvements to the railway station multistorey.
The proposed Kennet Shopping centre development from Market Street
Professor David Peacock, of conservationists group The Newbury Society, stated that proposal for dual use parking spaces meant that the provision was inadequate and residents and shoppers would not always be able to park their cars at the site.
Mr Peacock did not believe that inadequate parking provision was an encouragement to future residents and visitors to use other means of transport.
The Kennet Centre multi-storey car park currently holds 415 spaces. On average, the car park is half full throughout the week.
Up to 66 spaces can be accessed on the roof of the car park via the ramp access from Market Street but they would be lost as part of this proposal.
The 415 spaces would reduce to 392 should this application be approved, but a further 83 spaces were proposed that would be accessible from Bartholomew Street. This put the total number of spaces at 475.
Councillor Alan Macro felt the application contained many positives, such as improvements to some street scenes.
However, there were areas of concern. The size of the proposed development would dominate the many listed buildings in the town. He considered that future residents might not be willing to pay for parking permits and would look to park their vehicles elsewhere, which could impact on parking in other areas.
Visitors to Newbury might not be willing to be redirected to other parking due to the inconvenience.
Councillor Adrian Abbs commended the developer for their proposed improvements to the street scene. However, he felt the proposal did not comply with many of the council’s policies and highlighted a number of points to support that view.
He said there would be a negative impact on heritage assets in the town and the proposal would not enhance the character of the area. The requirement for a diverse range of housing had not been adhered to and there was the lack of affordable housing.
And he said the level of overshadowing that would be experienced by the new street would result in it being underused for its intended purpose, as an area for people to socialise in.
Councillor Richard Somner agreed that while it was right to appreciate the past, it was important to look forward. He felt that the Kennet Centre had become run down over a number of years. It was no longer a vibrant centre.
The proposal was sizeable but Mr Somner felt it was a good quality design and approval of the application would provide a level of consistency.
The application goes before the district planning committee on Wednesday.