Bond Riverside (London Road Industrial Estate) Regeneration Programme

Regeneration plans for the area adjacent to Newbury town centre.

Regeneration of the Council-owned London Road Industrial Estate (LRIE) in Newbury, renamed Bond Riverside in March 2023, is part of our strategic commitment to deliver local infrastructure to support and grow the local economy. You can find out more about our strategic commitments in the Council Strategy.

Please note, all updates are available on the Business West Berkshire Website for you to view.

Vision

The delivery of a mixed-use site that delivers economic growth, an improved local environment within which to work, travel and live, and provides effective links to the town centre.

Approved by Executive on 9 June 2022.

Current position

An LRIE Project Refresh report, setting out the next stages for delivering regeneration on the London Road Industrial Estate (LRIE), on the outskirts of Newbury Town Centre, was approved by Executive at a meeting on 9 June 2022.

The report, which superseded a development brief approved by Executive in November 2020, outlined a fresh approach for the site which focuses on job creation, attracting investment to Newbury and achieving carbon neutrality. LRIE, which is currently home to around 36 businesses and 300 jobs, is set to welcome additional employers and investment as well as at least 200 new jobs.

The approach was developed following a review of the project which took into account the post-pandemic economy, market demand and the district's ambition to be carbon neutral by 2030. This marks a move away from the previous mixed-use approach and instead will unlock the site's potential as a sustainable, high quality employment site and business destination.

Under the delivery strategy, it is expected that site-wide improvement works will commence and a planning application will be submitted for the former depot site by mid 2023. Environmental improvements, flood prevention works and negotiations with leaseholders to provide the certainty needed to stimulate private sector investment will get underway.

In the long term, the former depot and playing field will be redeveloped for employment use, with at least £250,000 of private sector investment being brought forward by the estate's existing businesses, seeing an increase in Council income from rent and rates, which will in turn be invested in vital public services to benefit residents.

The Council as landowner submitted representations on Draft Policies SP20, SP21 and DM31 of the Local Plan Review as part of the Regulation 19 public consultation in February 2023. The representations seek to extend the LRIE Designated Employment Area in line with the refreshed approach, based on evidence set out in an Addendum report produced by consultants in September 2022.

Cllr Ross Mackinnon, Executive Member for Finance and Economic Development at West Berkshire Council, said:

"I'm delighted to share with residents and the business community our fresh approach to the redevelopment of the London Road Industrial Estate, which is a real step forward.

"Over the past few months, we've gone right back to basics. We've reviewed our objectives for the site, taking into account the results of work commissioned from our consultants, as well as the need to drive post-covid recovery and progress towards our carbon net zero aspirations. We've also put together a comprehensive delivery strategy that sets out very clearly how we intend to achieve those objectives in the coming months and years.

"At the heart of our plans is a desire to engage with existing leaseholders and tenants to discuss their aspirations for the future and see how we can support their sustainable economic growth to create new jobs and benefit the local economy. We also want to hear from potential new leaseholders keen to invest in and create new jobs on the site, which has excellent connectivity to Newbury town centre.

"The successful redevelopment of this important employment site has the potential to deliver a range of economic and environmental benefits for Newbury and the surrounding area. What's more, by investing in our assets and encouraging others to do so too, we will generate income that we can then invest in vital public services to benefit residents across the district."

LRIE project refresh

History

The regeneration of the London Road Industrial Estate has been a council aspiration since publication of the 2003 Newbury Vision. It has remained a fixed item within all subsequent publications of the Newbury Vision.

Our previous attempt to bring forward regeneration with a development partner failed due to legal action brought against and fought unsuccessfully by the council between 2015 and 2018. You can find out more about this in Icon for pdf frequently asked questions about the project up to 2018 [96KB] and Commentary on the Faraday Case (12 February 2019) [89KB] .

The project was restarted and consultants, Avison Young, were appointed in 2019 to draw up a development brief for the site with residents' views sought on the draft in autumn 2020. The final Icon for pdf LRIE Development Brief [11MB] , which sets out development options for the site based on a mix of commercial and residential uses, was approved by Executive at a meeting on 19 November 2020.

Subsequently, Executive on 17 December 2020 agreed development objectives for the site and appointed specialist consultants to bring it forward. During 2021 and early 2022, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the consultants delivered a high-level Environmental Appraisal Report (see below) to explore concerns raised during the public consultation and carried out soft market testing with potential development partners.

In the meantime, in December 2021, we opened the playing field (formerly the Faraday Road football ground) to the public as temporary public sports and recreation space pending its redevelopment. The status of the playing field will be decided as part of the consideration of a planning application for the site, which we expect to be submitted by mid 2024.

The estate was renamed Bond Riverside in March 2023, following a schools competition to come up with a new identity and name for the site which was won by tram from Newbury College.

Environmental appraisal report

Development brief - superseded

Public questions and frequently asked questions

The London Road Industrial Estate has been the subject of many public questions submitted to our Executive. These are published in full as questions and answers alongside the minutes for each meeting, which are available through our Executive meetings browser.

In addition, we have published frequently asked questions (FAQs) on topics of interest and these are listed below. Please note that these FAQs predate the 'current position' section above, referring instead to approaches set out in the 'history' section above.

Who to contact

For general media enquiries, please contact our Public Relations Team.

For specific enquiries about the London Road Industrial Estate regeneration project overall, please contact our Economic Development team on economicdevelopment@westberks.gov.uk.

For enquiries about any element of planning related to this project, please contact Planning Policy Team.