88 Broad Street – planning application withdrawn

A planning application (211241) for a new front entrance and changes to the front elevation of 88 Broad Street was withdrawn on 8 February 2022.

Reading CAAC stated in our objection to the application:

• The documentation supplied is inadequate to form a considered opinion of the full impact of the changes proposed.
• For such a prominent town centre site, nominated by Reading CAAC for local listing and adjacent to a listed building, it is expected that a Design and Access and Heritage statement would be produced setting out the impact of the changes on the street scene and the heritage impact.
• The proposed shopfront would not meet the expectations of Reading Borough Council’s New Local Plan and Draft Shopfronts Supplementary Design Document and therefore further justification is required for the proposal.

The shop is one of a parade of four, 85-88 Broad Street, that were built at the end of the 1860s. The shops were added to Reading Borough Council’s list of locally important buildings and structures on 12 January 2022.

The listing decsription includes the statement ‘This group of Victorian commercial terraces is (apart from the George Hotel, dating from the 16th century, at the eastern end of the central shopping precinct) one of the oldest groupings of buildings in the central shopping area along Broad Street.‘

The Design Guide for Shopfronts Supplementary Planning Document was adopted by RBC in January 2022 after a period of public consultation from 24 July to 24 September 2021.