Reading Borough Council rejects plans to redevelop St Patrick's Hall

Thursday, 08 February 2018

Revised plans for the redevelopment of St Patrick’s Hall were rejected by the Reading Borough Council Planning Committee last night.

Despite receiving a recommendation for approval, the Planning Committee unanimously voted against the application for a number of reasons.

The multi-million pound investment was designed to respond to growing demand for high-quality student accommodation located on or near the University’s Whiteknights campus. The development was to include 836 new bedrooms, in addition to the 116 rooms retained within Pearson’s Court – giving a net increase of 654 bedrooms on the existing site. 

Vice-Chancellor, Sir David Bell, said: “We are disappointed by the decision of Reading Borough Council Planning Committee to reject the redevelopment of St. Patrick’s Hall. As a result, we are considering our next steps. Development of first-class accommodation is urgently needed if we are to continue attracting students from the UK and abroad to study in Reading, at the same time as relieving pressure on private rented housing in the local area.”

Following the local listing of Pearson’s Court in October 2016, the University and UPP withdrew the original application to redevelop St Patrick’s Hall and developed an alternative scheme that retained Pearson’s Court and redeveloped the remainder of the site. 

Further amendments were made to the submitted plans in January 2018 after local residents raised objections about some of the building heights. The sixth storey was removed from the two accommodation buildings at the centre of the site and one storey was removed from the townhouse at the southern boundary closest to Northcourt Avenue – taking this to two storeys. The result of these changes was a total loss of 48 rooms.

The University is now considering its next steps. We will keep you updated as and when further developments arise.