New Homes Rise at Former Reading Golf Course

Progress is being made on a major housing and community work north of Reading, after a string of planning approvals at Reading Borough Council.

Progress on Emmer Green Drive (PL/25/0708)

Vistry Thames Valley is building 223 homes on the former Reading Golf Course. Satellite images show some homes are already up and roads such as The Fairway, Barnes Road and James Braid Drive are named on site. The development's security strategy was approved on 20 April, setting out how the site - especially the apartment blocks - will be secured.

Caversham Park retirement community tweaks (PL/26/0246)

The long‑planned transformation of Caversham Park into a retirement community was approved earlier this year. The mansion, used by BBC Monitoring until the corporation vacated it in 2018, will become 197 places to live. Beechcroft Developments has permission for minor changes: keeping an existing ancillary store as a cycle store for assisted living units, and adding a detached cycle store and plant room for the care home.

Reading College heating upgrade (PL/26/0050)

Reading College will replace its carbon‑based heat network with three air source heat pumps and a thermal storage battery. Planning officer Huimin Chen wrote that the new heat pumps would contribute positively to improving air quality and reducing the effects of poor air quality, through decreasing reliance on fossil fuels.

Air handling units at Royal Berkshire Hospital maternity block (PL/26/0260)

The Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust has approval for rooftop air handling units on the hospital's south block, which houses the maternity ward. The works were signed off as permitted development on 20 April.

You can view each approved application by typing the reference in brackets into the council's planning portal.

James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporter