Decision not made on £158m shopping centre revamp

West Berkshire Council’s western area planning committee had recommended the proposals should be approved

A decision on plans to redevelop a town centre has been passed to a district planning committee to decide.

West Berkshire Council's western area planning committee were due to agree the fate of a £158m proposal to build high-rise flats on the Kennet Centre in Newbury.

After nearly four hours of discussion, presentations for and against the plans on Thursday the committee could not come to a conclusion.

A decision is now expected to be made by the district planning committee in November.

Developers Lochilort want to create 427 build-to-rent flats across nine residential blocks ranging from two to eight storeys in height.

Underneath the flats will sit a walkway and new shopping area with business units and the Vue cinema also gets an upgrade.

The scheme had been recommended for planning approval.

If it gets the go-ahead in November it would take six months to demolish the existing shopping centre and about four years to complete.