Public notices: Application for 51 new flats in town centre

In the public notices this week, a major development is planned in Slough town centre near the railway station. There are also two road closures in Slough.

Planning

Developers are seeking permission to demolish a building – Automotive House in Grays Place, Slough – and build 51 new flats in its place.

The block is a three-storey office building, which dates from the mid-1960s. The site was already granted an application for a change of use from offices to residential.

The new application ‘provides the opportunity ... to improve the appearance of an unattractive site within Slough’s high density ring’, said architects GA&A Design.

“The existing building doesn’t make any positive contribution to the character of the local area,” the company wrote.

By comparison, the proposed development would contribute towards the regeneration of the area close to the station, it added.

The new look for Automotive House is inspired by the Porter Building in the town centre.

The block would be made up of 23 one-bedroom apartments for two people; 11 two-beds for three people; and 17 two-beds for four people.

Consultants Waller Planning said it is ‘still not possible to provide affordable housing as part of this development’ as it ‘remains financially unviable’.

The proposed design seeks to increase the density of Slough town centre. This application seeks to ‘make a more efficient use of this valuable town-centre site’.

The larger building would contain more new flats than the current building with ‘a far better standard’ of accommodation. It would also be more energy efficient, the applicants claim.

“The proposed development would also respond to a significant shortfall in the supply of housing land within the Borough,” Waller Planning wrote.

Previous applications for this site were turned down by Slough Borough and the applicants have reduced the number of proposed flats accordingly.

To see all documents relating to this application, enter reference P/04290/009 into Slough planning portal.

Traffic

Slough council is looking to prevent traffic from passing through the M4 junction 6 roundabout, Slough, east quadrant.

This will begin on Monday, April 25 from 9pm to 6am so work can be carried out on the road. It is expected the work will be completed by Saturday, April 30.

The council is also looking to close Malton Avenue from number 469 to its junction with Berwick Avenue.

This will begin from a minute past midnight on Monday, May 2, and is expected to end 11.59pm on Friday, June 3.

Road closures can continue for a maximum of 18 months.

An alternative route will be available for use while the closure is in force and local diversions will be clearly signed at the location. Advanced warning notices will be posted.

To see all this week's public notices, click here.