Marlow Travelodge faces thousands of opponents

A petition to prevent Travelodge opening a hotel in Marlow is on the way to collecting its target of 2,000 signatures. Travelodge has been in talks with Wycombe District Council over plans to submit a planning application for a hotel on vacant land in Fieldhouse Lane opposite The Marlow Club fitness centre. It is currently used as a car park, both for the club and businesses at Globe Business Park where parking is already a problem. Globe Park Action Group has begun an online petition,

Multi-storey planned for Didcot Parkway

Work to increase car parking at Didcot Parkway station is likely to start this summer. The £23 million six-storey car park will double capacity to 1,800 spaces at the Foxhall Road site. Work was brought forward to ensure it was built before the mixed-use ‘gateway’ scheme opposite, although that scheme is currently suffering delay. Great Western Railway’s work on the Network Rail-owned car park has been in the planning stages for almost three years but is unlikely to be finished before next

Mixed-use Didcot scheme prompts council row

A row has erupted over land opposite Didcot Parkway station which has planning permission for 300 homes. A mixed-use scheme proposed by South Oxfordshire District Council was approved in February which includes a 70-bed hotel, a large gym, 26,000 sq ft of retail, 19,400 sq ft of commercial office space, a new nursery and a decked car park on the 10.75-acre site. But councillors have voiced concerns at the time it has taken to find a developer while the ‘gateway’ site deteriorates. Didcot Town

Oracle manager Steve Belam moves on

Manager of The Oracle shopping centre in Reading, Steve Belam has moved to a wider role within owners Hammerson – but will help recruit his successor. Former Ikea commercial manager Mr Belam became general manager of The Oracle in 2003 and has been a director for almost 10 years. In his new role he will be spending several months in Ireland training and helping centres succeed. He will then do the same at Hammerson developments in both England and Ireland. Mr Belam says he will continue living

Pre-let search at Windsor Business Quarter

While regeneration and new road and rail links are driving growth in towns throughout the Thames Valley, the region’s most famous has a pipeline just one major office scheme. Salmon Property bought the site of the former Rank Hovis MacDougall offices in Alma Road, Windsor over two years ago. It had previously been owned by Europa Capital for whom the planning process outlasted their ability to access funds to redevelop it. Salmon Property bought the site, demolished the existing building and

David Thomas to be regional managing partner at Vail Williams

Twenty years after joining Vail Williams for the first time David Thomas is about to become its regional managing partner for the Thames Valley. Mr Thomas joined the firm in the mid 1990s after training with Stimpsons then starting his career as a graduate with Hicks Baker. He later spent seven years with agents in London before returning to Vail Williams in Reading 2007. At Hicks Baker he was the instigator of Reading Young Professionals, a group where newly qualified surveyors, accountants,

'Frustrated' employers may quit Guildford

Fears have been raised that major employers could leave Guildford if there is any further delay to the new Local Plan. Guildford Borough Council had begun a consultation on the plan around two years ago but numbers of homes on Greenbelt land drew opposition and slowed the process down. Later this month, once the full council and the executive have approved the new draft, another consultation starts but this time, according to Cllr Geoff Davis, lead councillor for economic development, the

Confidence boost for Broad Street Mall

Refurbishments, new tenants and increased footfall has helped drive an upsurge in business at Reading’s Broad Street Mall – and more changes are to come. Asset managers Moorgarth Group reported a 3.1 per cent increase in last year’s footfall figures compared to 2014 while across the industry numbers dropped two per cent. Retailers reported steady trade backed up by a strong Christmas period which saw a 10.5 per cent increase in footfall along with strong sales. One anchor tenant reported a 13

Segro unveils its latest Heathrow warehouse

Segro has launched the latest of its industrial developments within Heathrow airport. The Portal, a rare 37,000 sq ft building of warehouse and office space, boats a prime, secure ‘on-airport’ position, 10 minutes from both the M4 and M25. The speculative scheme developed by Airport Property Partnership (APP), a joint venture between Segro and Aviva Investors, was completed last month and, for its official launch, agents were shown both it and the neighbouring Skyline development, a

Ten speculative Thames Valley office schemes

Few could fail to notice the affects of Crossrail throughout the Thames Valley, even though trains won’t fully service the region for another three years. And the volume of new buildings, many of them clustering close to railway stations on the main route or close to Heathrow, includes some ambitious speculative developments which, despite all manner of economic uncertainties, demonstrate confidence in the area. In our list of 10 schemes there is more than 1.15 million sq ft currently being