Decision on Tadley retirement homes complex expected

42 retirement homes and a new retail store would be built

COUNCILLORS will decide whether to approve plans for 42 retirement living apartments and a new retail store on New Road, Tadley, on Wednesday.

Approval was deferred at a Basingstoke and Deane Development Control Committee meeting on September 11 following concerns about affordable housing, appropriate disabled parking on site, the safety of a layby, and the effect of an on-site retail store on the independently-run Koala convenience store.

The application will now be reconsidered in Wednesday’s meeting after the applicants – McCarthy and Stone Retirement Lifestyles Ltd – put forward three options for affordable housing, with the third including a commuted sum of £100,000.

The applicant has also increased the number of accessible parking spaces for use by residents of the proposal to three, and has sought to demonstrate that highway safety would not be compromised when the proposed layby is in use by a HGV.

In consultations for the original application, Tadley Town Council objected, stating that it was “disappointed in the lack of affordable housing,” and that a commuted sum – money paid by a developer to a council in replacement of affordable housing – would be of little benefit to Tadley residents.

The council also voiced its concerns that the proposal for a Co-op on site would put the independent convenience store Koala out of business.

The plans would also result in the demolition of electrical appliance store Reading Warehouses, which has been in Tadley since the late 1960s.