Kennet Centre redevelopment plans see complete shake up with new designs revealed by developer, Lochailort

In what can only be described as a complete design U-turn, dramatic new plans to redevelop Newbury’s Kennet Shopping centre have been revealed.

Most of the controversial multi-storey flats have gone.

And the new plans dial up the heritage.

It is called ‘Old Town’, dropping the much vaunted ‘Eagle Quarter’ idea to, in the words of the architect, “intrinsically knit back into the urban grain of the historic settlement pattern”.

In place of the flats are Georgian-style mews houses, all individually designed in a four-acre plot referencing old alleyways, arches and metalwork of the old and pretty parts of Newbury town centre.

Most of the shopping units have gone too – and the developer Lochailort’s enthusiastic director Hugo Haig seems evangelical about the possibilities of reinventing town centres away from the old and fading shopping centre model.

His plans – drawn up at the same time as his first effort to put 11-storey blocks of flats on the site – show twisty lanes, mews houses, cycle storage, bespoke designs and a concierge building.

So he’s gone posh and pricey.

The plans were certainly not drawn up at the last minute in response to the latest multi-storey effort being booted out by the council at the end of last year.

“I just had a moment of realisation that Newbury doesn’t need any more shops,” explains Mr Haig.

“I was having a wee dram when I came up with it,” he said about his eureka moment of ditching the shops and the high rises.

The new plans have 317 ‘high quality’ homes, nine commercial units and four acres of open space.

Three previous attempts to get the £154m high-rise solution, with a shopping alley, through the council planners have failed, with politicians split on deciding their future. Those plans may still go to appeal.

Mr Haig won’t be drawn on a cost plan for the new scheme; he just says it will cost “a lot”.

So why the change of direction?

“We have put back character of what was in Newbury before the shopping centre was built,” said Mr Haig.

“This scheme is 317 homes, and is 200,000 sq m less than the last Eagle Quarter proposal.

“The previous scheme was designed for build for rent and had a lot of community spaces. This one doesn’t. It has more public open space, and a concierge.

“I love them both… they are both good schemes and both would complement the town.”

He describes the new scheme as “conservation charm with heritage assets,” no doubt aimed at pacifying his harsh critics, conservationists The Newbury Society.

“We haven’t just used standard railings,” he explains, enthusiastically pointing to hand drawn drawings with different types of railings.

“We looked at the old ordnance survey maps and looked at the old courts that used to be here before the shopping centre was built. So we have put back some heritage.”

He said the Arcade, Saddlers Court and Weavers Yard, which exist already, served as inspiration.

“We ran out of mews designs so we looked a little further and went to London,” he adds.

“We have owned the shopping centre since 2020. There are 50 shops available and 100,000 sq foot of retail available here.

“There is no need to build more shops in Newbury.”

Conservationists have not held back in their disdain for previous plans with some councillors using the ‘over my dead body’ adage in previous meetings.

The blurb for the new plan says the scheme will “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”.

Developers say they want to “create a charming sense of place, ownership, community and belonging and to deliver a unique, exemplary scheme that will enhance the Conservation Area, restoring the identity of this part of Newbury and offer a truly creative take on modern living and to intrinsically knit back into the urban grain of the historic settlement pattern”.

There are 557 car parking spaces, some in the development, others on a new car park level on the existing car park.

Mews houses are not cheap – and this scheme has no affordable housing.

It is unashamedly upmarket but Mr Haig seems quietly confident the matrix of affordability used to determine these things will fall in his favour.

There is a full range of units, from studio flats to four-bed houses.

“One of the founding principles was to give everything its own front door,” he says. “It allows that bit of open space outside and balconies.”

The new plans are expected to be formally submitted to West Berkshire Council in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, Mr Haig is charming the great and the good of Newbury with personal tours of his plans in an empty shop next door to Caffè Nero in the Kennet Shopping centre, which will be open to the public next week.

It is open on Tuesday (February 4) and next Friday (February 7). Doors open at 3pm, with hourly slots available at 3pm, 4pm, 5pm and 6pm.

You must register and book to attend, which can be done by calling (01635) 40748.