Top names in line up for TvPropFest

BBC business journalist Tanya Beckett will interview one of the key figures driving radical plans for Reading’s new cultural quarter at the first Thames Valley Property Festival (TvPropFest). The interview - with Sally Swift, director of Theatre & Arts Reading - will be among the highlights of a day of walks, talks, awards and music, celebrating some of the most exciting property developments in the region and discussing many of the concerns in the rapidly-evolving industry. There will also be

2,800 homes refused on appeal

Planning applications for a total of 2,800 homes in Swindon have been refused on appeal. Ainscough Strategic Land had been refused permission for 2,600 and 200 homes at Lotmead Farm, in June 2016. The schemes were part of the town’s New Eastern Villages development. The council’s refusals were on the grounds of insufficient basic infrastructure including schools and transport links, as well as not adequately addressing issues of noise, flooding and drainage. Ainscough appealed the decisions

New format for region's top property event

The region’s top property event has been given a new expanded format with awards for the top industry leaders. The annual Thames Valley Property Forum, which has grown into a landmark event in property circles, will this year become TVPropFest, an all-day festival based on four key themes of walks, talks, awards and music. The traditional speakers and panel debates will still form part of the day but a choice of carefully planned walks, live music and an awards dinner, at which former home

112-bed Hampton by Hilton plan for Swindon

Turley has submitted plans which will incorporate Grade ll listed buildings into a new 112-bedroom hotel for Swindon. Acting for developer Ridgevale Estates, Turley proposed a new scheme for a Hampton by Hilton hotel on the former Paragon Laundry site at the junction of Station Road and Aylesbury Street. It is a refinement of a previous scheme, launched around the time of the last recession and which has permisison, but which did not progress. The new scheme, as previously, is for a six-storey