Newbury’s ailing Kennet Shopping Centre could be replaced by a development of period-style housing in the latest twist in the saga of redeveloping the site.

Developer Lochailort has unveiled its latest plan called Old Town, following the refusal of its Eagle Quarter development by West Berkshire Council, five years after it was first proposed.

Old Town comprises 317 homes, a mix of houses, flats and maisonettes, likely to include both Build-to-Rent and market housing. There will be a diverse combination of styles with several private courtyards. However, all the homes will have their own front door.

Just five retail units are included in the scheme and two existing ones will be refurbished. The tallest building will have six storeys.

The existing Vue Cinema will be retained along with the multi-storey car park, which will be enlarged, but the scheme will predominantly be modern homes in traditional styles. In recognition of the site’s one time Eagle Works, iron work will feature throughout Old Town.

Lochailort director Hugo Haig, who spoke exclusively to Thames Tap about Old Town in this podcast, said: “We are thrilled to be able to release our new ‘Od Town’ scheme for the redevelopment of the Kennet Shopping Centre.

“We have been working on it for some considerable time in the background. We have taken on board a lot of the criticisms of the previous scheme where the big concern was that there were too many flats and that they were too high.

“This scheme has been very significantly reduced. It is six storeys at its highest and consists of mainly houses.

“It is a heritage-based scheme, formulated on what was on the site before the Kennet Centre was built – it has oodles of character and is truly unique.

“I am unaware of any other development in the country where a developer is proposing to remove an outdated, ugly, and unloved shopping centre and replace it with an exceptionally carefully crafted, conservation housing scheme.”

You can hear much more about the scheme from Mr Haig in our exclusive podcast with him.

Mr Haig said architects at Woods Hardwick initially hand drew the scheme before those drawings were computerised.

Its aims and objectives statement says the scheme seeks to “enhance the Newbury Conservation Area by restoring the heritage character of this part of the town by removing the existing shopping centre and studying the past to inform the redevelopment.”

Despite the traditional appearance, homes will have modern sustainability features including ground source heat pumps which will provide low-cost energy. The precise mix of BTR and market housing is yet to be decided and could be up to 100 per cent of either.

Mr Haig told Thames Tap he will continue to pursue the appeal over the Eagle Quarter scheme in parallel with the Old Town development. If both are eventually given permission the chosen project is likely to depend upon variable economic factors such as interest rates and yields.

Visit: https://www.oldtownnewbury.com

You can listen to the podcast here.

Gallery images 1-8 below show scenes from Old Town. Image 9 is Hugo Haig.

© Thames Tap (powered by ukpropertyforums.com).

Sign up to receive our weekly free journal, The Forum here.