The Newbury Society’s petition against Lochailort’s plans to develop Newbury’s Kennet Shopping centre gets 2,000 signaturesns for Newbury

Conservationists have launched a petition to stop high rise proposals for the Kennet Centre.

It already has nearly 2,000 signatures.

The plans from developers Lochailort were turned down by West Berkshire Council last November, but an appeal was announced last month.

The Newbury Society agues that the plans are out of scale for a town such as Newbury, and has organised a petition against them both on paper and online.

A large number of those signing have made comments on the scheme, generally arguing that the scale of the development is unacceptable and simply out of proportion for the town.

The Newbury Society’s chair David Peacock said: “The scale of the response, in the short time available, is impressive and gives a clear sense of the strength of feeling in Newbury.

"We launched the petition knowing that the available time was very short, and have been overwhelmed by the response.

“And just to be clear: The Newbury Society is not opposed to redevelopment of the Kennet Centre, as we have repeatedly made plain.

"What we are opposed to, is the scale of Lochailort’s development plans, which do not give enough consideration to the character of Newbury town centre. We are concerned about the impact this high-rise development would have on the town.”

The plans involve 367 flats with high-rise blocks in the centre and six-storey blocks on some town-centre street frontages, all with no affordable housing.

The deadline for submissions to the planning inspector [July 17] has now passed, and the hearing itself is due to take place in October, with West Berkshire Council defending its decision to reject the Lochailort proposals.