Reading: Plans for Royal Elm Park submitted
Proposed plans for Royal Elm Park, submitted to Reading Borough Council, are expected to go to an early autumn planning committee.
The plans include the creation of a state-of-the-art international convention centre, over 630 new homes, a new public square, a 246-bedroom hotel and a 616-space multi-storey car park on the land next to the Madejski Stadium.
Subject to planning consent, the scheme is expected to bring over 1,000 construction jobs and more than 1,000 full-time jobs to the town, and work should start late this year.
Central to the proposal is ‘The International’, a convention centre designed to accommodate over 6,000 delegates which would act as a major catalyst for future inward investment.
Reading-based Barton Wilmore is both the planning and design consultant on the project.
Partner Kim Cohen said: "South Reading is a focus for growth and regeneration within the council's planning policy framework and this new mixed-use development has undeniable potential to contribute significantly, both socially and economically, to the enhancement, fully aligning with the objectives of both national and local planning policy."