Council gives green light for Bar Sport conversion

Plans for 16 Newbury town centre flats approved

WEST Berkshire Council has given the go-ahead to convert more than 1,000 sq m of Newbury town centre office space into apartments.

An application for permission to turn the floors above Bar Sport in Bartholomew Street into 16 one- and two-bed flats was submitted last month.

Developer Emarek Ltd is proposing to create the residential units across the upper floors while using the ground floor space (previously Bar Sport) as retail units.

The application also includes 13 car parking space for residents.

The premises have been empty since May last year when franchisee C-Tag Leisure Ltd, which formerly traded as Bar Sport Newbury, entered administration – less than 18 months after opening the venue.

Newbury Town Council had objected to the plans, raising concerns that the creation of residential units above would make it harder to find users for the ground floor space.

However, last week West Berkshire Council planners gave the plans a green light.

The work must now commence within three years of the permission being granted.

The news comes just weeks after a similar application was submitted to transform more than 60,000 sq ft of office space at Overbridge Square business park into residential units.