Town centre revamp refusal 'good for other plans'

Four hundred and twenty seven flats were originally proposed for the shopping centre site

The developer behind a town centre redevelopment rejected by a planning inspector has said the decision is good news for its other plans.

West Berkshire Council previously ruled against the residential and retail proposal for the Kennet Shopping Centre in Newbury.

The developer, Lochailort, appealed, but the planning inspector sided with the council, saying the design would be "overly dominant".

Lochailort director Hugo Haig said he was "disappointed", but that it highlighted the merits of the company's alternative scheme for the site, called Old Town.

"It just goes to show that we all can look at things differently," he said.

"I don't think it helped that I had submitted a volumetrically different scheme whilst at appeal.

"But what the decision does do is reinforce the merits of the Old Town proposal, and it reinforces the positive affirmation of the scheme by Heritage England."

One of the things the inspector was looking at was whether the proposal would preserve or enhance the character or appearance of the Newbury Town Conservation Area (NTCA) and the effect of the proposal on the setting of listed buildings.

The inspector's report said the buildings of the development would be "the largest buildings by some margin along Market Street".

It also criticised the "overly repetitive window arrangements".

"Rather than creating a strong identity it is the very type of 'of its time' modern architecture that has been allowed in and around the conservation area that are not as positive contributors as perhaps once intended or envisaged," it read.

The inspector also looked at the effect of the proposal on the living conditions of future occupiers, with particular regard to noise and the provision of acceptable private amenity space.

Old Town - a low level, individually styled mews house quarter - is currently lodged with the planning department at West Berkshire Council, but is yet to be assessed.

Lochailort said the decision was good news for that plan, despite the rejection being "a little depressing".