Newbury Weekly News plans new redevelopment

New plans have been submitted to replace the former home of the Newbury Weekly News with a mix of flats and new offices for the paper.

Pro Vision has drawn up the new proposals for 71 flats (21 affordable) and 3,720 sq m of B1(a) office space on the one-hectare site to replace its former home in Faraday Road along with some industrial buildings nearby under the same ownership.

The newspaper company had previously applied to build 82 flats and 1,523 sq m of offices but that scheme, although still going through the planning system, drew concerns from officers at West Berkshire Council about the loss of employment space and high number of residential units within the London Road Industrial Estate (a protected employment area).

The newspaper is currently using the former Skoda car dealership on the site. New printing presses were installed at the previous building, Newspaper House, in 2004 and 2009 but these have since been closed due to competition from larger printers and online publishing.