Landmark building gets redevelopment go ahead in Reading
The central club has been closed since 2006
Changes are finally coming to a long closed Reading community club after ’15 years of pain’ amid calls to bring the site back into use.
Reading Central Club near the town centre has been closed since 2006.
Situated in London Street, it contains the town’s Black History Mural, which has paintings of Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jnr, and other figures from Black history.
Back in 2018, the council began a process to redevelop the club site and replace the space lost to the community, with developers Red Line winning the bidding process.
The developers then submitted a plan to build 17 apartments and community space in December last year. The proposal involves the demolition of the Central Club building and its replacement with a three store building containing seven one-bed, seven two-bed and three three-bed apartments.
Reading Borough Council gave over the site on the provision that the mural be preserved and restored as part of any future proposals.
Now Red Line’s plan for the site has been decided by the council’s planning committee. The plan faced criticism from opposition councillors who argued the community space element of the plan lacked detail.
Cllr Micky Leng (Labour, Whitley), said details of the community space will be shaped in discussions with the community itself, and that having a “blank canvas” would allow for greater flexibility.
Of the 17 apartments, two will be designated affordable, being one one-bed and one three-bed apartment.
But there were queries over which provider would run this affordable housing.
Cllr Leng said that the council itself should manage these two apartments, which will both be affordable rented accommodation.
There was also a debate over what type of brick would be used for the building, with opposition councillors calling for brickwork to be more in keeping with others in London Street, which is a conservation area.
But Cllr Karen Rowland (Labour, Abbey) said:
“This (the new building) is not here to shine, the objects that need to shine are at the ground level, and I would urge the minimalist approach of this building, and the massing that was kept commendably down.”
Ultimately, the plan was approved with all Labour, Green and Liberal Democrat members voting for it and Conservatives voting against it.
You can view the approved application by typing reference 221364 into the council’s planning portal.