John Lewis plans approved

Councillors have given their unanimous approval to plans for a John Lewis 'at home' store at Parkway in Newbury

NEWBURY'S Parkway development looks set to house a John Lewis ‘at home' store after councillors gave it their unanimous approval last night (Wednesday).

The plans, to reconfigure part of the 475,000 sq ft Parkway development to create a new three-storey anchor store, had received a mixed reaction with objections from House of Fraser, Newbury Town Council and two local residents and support from the manager of the Kennet Centre, Mag Williams, and the chief executive of Camp Hopson, Jonathan Hopson.

West Berkshire Council officers had recommended approval of the plans, adding that in their opinion, the proposed store would result in a significant increase in footfall to the town centre, would help to claw back shoppers from out-of-town retail areas and would help build a strong local economy.

At the meeting, councillors shared similar concerns to the objectors about the loss of the proposed public open space at Victoria Place, which will be lost to accommodate the store, but Roger Hunneman (Lib Dem, Victoria) said that on balance, the scheme would help bring more people into Newbury and he proposed supporting officer recommendations.

Councillors on the western area planning committee unanimously backed the proposal and the smaller format of the John Lewis department store, which will sell electricals, home furnishing accessories and home technology, is now set to be built in time to open around Easter 2012, bringing about 170 jobs to the area.

For more on this story, see The Advertiser on Tuesday and next Thursday's Newbury Weekly News.