AS WE REVEALED in November 2020, a new Five Guys restaurant will be built on land in the Showcase Cinema car park.
Wokingham Borough Council has approved the proposal, after a pre-application for the diner was given consent two years ago.
The revised application will be set further back into the site following land ownership discussions between Highways England and Showcase Cinema.
The application site comprises of a triangular piece of land within the cinema area, currently used for advertising, car parking and landscaping.
The new site will involve the erection of the restaurant building, with an outside seating area and allocated parking spaces.
The construction will result in the redevelopment of an area of existing car parking and landscaping, with 56 parking spaces removed. However, there will still be 579 spaces for cinema customers.
The restaurant will be a single storey, 255sqm building and replicate some of the design elements of the Showcase Cinema, such as its tiered appearance.
Winnersh Parish Council had raised concerns about, and objected to, the application when it was last submitted on grounds which included the location’s risk of flooding.
However, a Flood Risk Assessment in January concluded that the proposed development is suitable for development, as there will be no negative impact on the flood plain, flow paths or flood storage volumes.
It stated that “we see no reason why the proposal should be refused on the grounds of flooding”.
The Winnersh site has been prone to flooding – most notably in 2009 and 2014. The car park also flooded in 2020. The proposed location has a 0.1% to 1% chance of flooding, according to Lanmor Consulting, who carried out the Flood Risk Assessment.
The new diner will sell burgers, hotdogs and F fries, and employ 20 part-time and 20 full-time members of staff.
The restaurant chain, headquartered in Lorton, Virginia, was founded in 1986 by Janie and Jerry Murrell. Jerry, alongside the couple’s four sons, Jim, Matt, Chad, and Ben, were the original Five Guys.
The couple later had a fifth son – all are currently involved in the business.
Five Guys first opened in the UK in July 2013 in Covent Garden. Since then, the company has expanded to include 148 outlets operating in the UK – the nearest being situated at The Oracle in Reading.
It is not yet known when the restaurant will be open to the public.
