Shopping centre plans rejected by council

The Kennet Shopping centre on Bartholomew Street in Newbury on an overcast day. Some people are going inside, others are sitting outside Cafe Nero.Image source, Getty Images
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Four hundred and twenty seven flats were proposed for the shopping centre site

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A £158 million project to transform an ageing shopping centre site into a residential and retail development with more than 400 flats has been rejected by a council.

Developer Lochailort had said its plans for the Kennet shopping centre in Newbury, Berkshire would have created jobs and brought millions of pounds to the local economy.

Councillors on West Berkshire Borough's Council's planning committee rejected the proposals, citing a lack of parking, affordable homes and open space.

Lochailort said the decision flew in the face of the government's push to see more homes built on town centre brownfield sites and that it would appeal the decision.

The rejected plans for the 1970s-built shopping complex would have seen all 427 flats on the redeveloped site marketed as build to let properties, with a one bedroom flat going for £1,200 a month, a three bedroom apartment £2,000 a month.

Lochailort said previous build-to-let schemes it had created, including in Reading's Thames Quarter, had proved popular with renters.

Image source, Lochailort
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The size and scale of the development was criticised by councillors

The Kennet centre site is a short distance from Newbury's railway station and the developer argued that would mean most of those living there would not need a car.

The company also said 34 new shops built underneath the new flats, would have brought more shoppers into the town.

Director Hugo Haig told the meeting: "We are replacing a shopping centre and those shops are affordable and ready to move into," he said.

"It will bring up to £8.5m additional spending for the town."

The development was rejected by councillors, despite council officers recommending its approval.

Parking was a key issue raised - members of the Newbury Society said 1,168 signatures had been gathered online against the scheme.

West Berkshire Council has been told by the Labour government it needs to build more than 1,000 new homes a year, more than double the amount it was told to build by the previous Conservative administration.