Kennet Centre redevelopment plans up for decision in early January

The Eagle Quarter - or redevelopment of Newbury’s Kennet Centre - comes back to the council for a decision in early January.

The district planning committee has been scheduled for January 8 - with another date set aside on January 9 in case they run out of time - again.

Attempts to approve the 427 flat scheme were filibustered out at a four and a half hour meeting of West Berkshire Council’s planning committee in mid-November.

The scale of the build, and lack of affordable housing included in it, with the loss of parking led the objections aired at the meeting.

Councillors did manage to vote on one proposal at that meeting – to reject the officers’ recommendation to approve the £150m scheme.

But they were split down the middle on that.

Then they voted 6:5 against officers’ recommendations to approve, as the abstainer voted against.

Then they ran out of time before voting on whether to accept the proposals again with conditions.

“We need to look forward and not sit with one foot in the past. It’s a mess,” said Richard Somner (Con, Tilehurst South and Holybrook) more or less summing up the views of those in favour of the scheme.

This was the second four hour meeting in weeks on the issue. The previous planning committee having kicked the responsibility for making a decision to the district planning committee.

There was another attempt to kick it down the road again to full council, but this was not allowed under council rules.

If they do agree to it in January, then Newbury can look forward to being a building site for the next three and a half years.

The 427 new 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,” said Louise Sturgess (Lib Dem, Newbury Central).

She was joined in her objection by fellow Newbury Central councillor Martin Colston.

“I would contend strongly that this is brutal, like a section of 19th century industrial city has been unceremoniously plonked into the heart of a small market town,” he said.

“This unarguably and dramatically changes the character of the town centre.”

Council officers say the proposal could get away with not having affordable housing because the scheme was not financially viable with it, and therefore was exempt from its own policy for developments to include them.

The scheme also saw concerns over a shortfall in parking. In essence, the Kennet Centre carpark would be used for residents of the new build, meaning that weekend traffic would make the car park overflow.

So the council officers and the developers said they’d hacked a deal to improve signage and the access to the Market Street station car park, which is mostly empty, so that can be used in case of overflow.

The developers say that the Kennet Centre is a “failing and unsustainable shopping centre”.

Their schtick is to “rejuvenate and regenerate” with the “removal of an eyesore” which will “link the town centre to the station with oven ready retail units”.

They say the centre has rising vacancy rates. Employment on the site has dropped by 47 percent, from 349 full time staff in 2012 to 185 in 2020.

They claim the development is expected to create 134 full time jobs and 427 flats is expected to generate £7.5m for the local economy.