New scheme proposed for Newbury town centre
Old town is dominated by housing with very few retail units
Dramatic new plans to redevelop Newbury’s Kennet Shopping centre have been revealed.
Most of the controversial multi-storey flats have gone.
And the new plans dial up the heritage.
It is called ‘Old Town’, dropping the much vaunted ‘Eagle Quarter’ idea to, in the words of the architect, “intrinsically knit back into the urban grain of the historic settlement pattern”.
In place of the flats are Georgian-style mews houses, all individually designed in a four-acre plot referencing old alleyways, arches and metalwork of the old and pretty parts of Newbury town centre.
Most of the shopping units have gone too – and the developer Lochailort’s enthusiastic director Hugo Haig seems evangelical about the possibilities of reinventing town centres away from the old and fading shopping centre model.
His plans – drawn up at the same time as his first effort to put 11-storey blocks of flats on the site – show twisty lanes, mews houses, cycle storage, bespoke designs and a concierge building.
The new plans have 317 ‘high quality’ homes, nine commercial units and four acres of open space.
Three previous attempts to get the £154m high-rise solution, with a shopping alley, through the council planners have failed, with politicians split on deciding their future. Those plans may still go to appeal.
Mr Haig describes the new scheme as “conservation charm with heritage assets,” no doubt aimed at pacifying his harsh critics, conservationists The Newbury Society.
“We haven’t just used standard railings,” he explains, enthusiastically pointing to hand drawn drawings with different types of railings.
“We looked at the old ordnance survey maps and looked at the old courts that used to be here before the shopping centre was built. So we have put back some heritage.”
He said the Arcade, Saddlers Court and Weavers Yard, which exist already, served as inspiration.
“We ran out of mews designs so we looked a little further and went to London,” he adds.
“We have owned the shopping centre since 2020. There are 50 shops available and 100,000 sq foot of retail available here.
“There is no need to build more shops in Newbury.”
Developers say they want to “create a charming sense of place, ownership, community and belonging and to deliver a unique, exemplary scheme that will enhance the Conservation Area, restoring the identity of this part of Newbury and offer a truly creative take on modern living and to intrinsically knit back into the urban grain of the historic settlement pattern”.
There are 557 car parking spaces, some in the development, others on a new car park level on the existing car park.
Affordable
This scheme still has no affordable housing.
It is unashamedly upmarket but Mr Haig seems quietly confident the matrix of affordability used to determine these things will fall in his favour.
There is a full range of units, from studio flats to four-bed houses.
He says the economics of teh scheme don't allow for affordable housing and points to a nearby development which provides the town with dozens of affordable housing units.
The new plans are expected to be formally submitted to West Berkshire Council in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, the plans will be shown off in an empty shop next door to Caffè Nero in the Kennet Shopping centre, which will be open to the public next week.