Former Gas Works Road social club listed as “locally-important”

THE BUILDING of the former Southern Gas Social Club has been approved for listing as one of Reading’s “locallyimportant” buildings.

The site on Gas Works Road opened as a social club for the workers of Southern Gas in 1903 and features two separate buildings.

The site has been disused since around 1993 and forms the only physical remains of gas production in Reading, since the demolition of the gas tower close by was completed earlier this year.

After having failed to sell at auction, the property is now in the hands of receivers Quantuma.

Members of the Conservation Advisory Committee put forward an application for it to be locally listed, and the Planning Applications Committee formally approved the addition on Wednesday, June 22.

The list recognises structures of significance, but does not afford any additional legal protection than they already have.

It means, however, that the building’s status would be taken into account if demolition or significant alteration is proposed.

Any planning application on the site will then be considered against the council’s Local

Plan policy, which states that development should conserve architectural, archaeological, or historical significance.

It states also that any harm or loss of the asset would only be allowed where it can be demonstrated that the “benefits of the development significantly outweigh the asset’s significance.”

Cllr Kathryn McCann set up a Facebook group for people who wished to protect the site in 2020, which has since grown in number to 125 members.

Cllr McCann said:“I’ve always loved the Southern Gas Social Club building, with its classic red brick industrial styling, rising dramatically out of the canal, it’s an important relic of the industrial character of that part of Reading.”

Cllr McCann is now looking to submit the building for a national listing.

A national listing would provide further limits on how the site could be developed, and protect the building.

“I knew that planning permission had been granted to redevelop the site into 20 flats, extending the

social club building and reworking the governor house to the left.

“Knowing the site had since been sold on and was still sitting undeveloped, I saw an opportunity to bring people together to share ideas about it.

“My hope was that a viable plan to save it as something that would benefit the local community might evolve.”

She added that she would like to see the social club come back to life “as a multifunction venue, combining social space with workshop space for making, repairing, restoring and upcycling, where practical, creative and eco-minded people can cross paths, collaborate, learn from and inspire each other.”