Plans for an ‘urban village’ in the heart of Newbury have been submitted
Grainger, the UK’s largest listed residential landlord, today announces it has submitted a detailed planning application for a Build-to-Rent development project to West Berkshire Council to develop land between Newbury railway station and Market Street creating an attractive new gateway to Newbury with high-quality rental homes to meet local need.
The application for the ‘urban village’ includes 232 rental homes, providing a mix of apartments, duplexes and houses, with 10,200 sqft of commercial space. In addition to the new homes and commercial space, these proposals provide further improvements for Newbury by way of station car parking with additional capacity, replacement car parking for the Council offices, a new station plaza, new landscaped step free pedestrian routes through the site, replacement housing contribution and a new bus station.
Helen Gordon, CEO of Grainger, said:
The proposals are anticipated to create more than 220 new full time jobs in the next four years and, upon completion, anticipated to provide more than £4m of additional expenditure in local shops and services each year.
“We are pleased to submit this planning application for over 200 new long term rental homes in Newbury. This application follows on from our strategy announcement in late January, where we set out our ambition to significantly grow our Private Rented Sector business by utilising our development expertise and investing over £850m before 2020.”
David Walters, Development Director at Grainger, said:
“Our final proposals are a culmination of this extensive public consultation process, and the community’s views have significantly influenced and shaped the plans. These detailed proposals have been designed with careful consideration to Newbury’s heritage, and we believe will greatly enhance this under-utilised 5.5 acre site in the centre of the town.
“Grainger is proposing the new housing is professionally managed Private Rented Sector (PRS) and affordable homes, meeting local demand and supporting growth, employment and labour mobility in Newbury. With over 100 years’ experience in owning housing, Grainger will continue to manage the buildings after construction and be focused on providing the highest quality rental homes for Newbury.”
The majority of the site is owned by West Berkshire Council and is currently a combination of parking spaces and the bus station. As part of Grainger’s proposals, a new multi-storey car park will be built and the bus station is being moved to the wharf, where planning permission was granted earlier this year. The development has been designed to ensure there is no loss of station parking during construction.
Nick Carter, Chief Executive of West Berkshire Council said,
“I am pleased that we have the planning application from Grainger. It marks a huge step forward for this important improvement for Newbury. The plan to improve this site, create a new gateway into the town and ultimately bring significant economic benefits for the whole town is a very exciting prospect. It forms a key part of the Newbury Vision 2025 which has already delivered projects such as Parkway, the cinema, and the town centre pedestrianisation. Newbury is one the best connected towns in the South, along with the investment committed by Network Rail, to have a more impressive gateway can only continue to boost its appeal.”
The application and is expected to be determined later this year.
More information can be found by visiting www.marketstreetnewbury.co.uk.