The fine Edwardian House in Reading THE OWNER of a ‘fine’ Edwardian House has finally been given the green light to turn their property into flats having been knocked back on six previous occasions. The home, at 39 Brunswick Hill near Reading West station, has been the subject of three planning applications in three years. Each time the applicant was told their plan to convert the property into a number of flats was not acceptable and each time a subsequent appeal was thrown out by national planning inspectors. But a fourth plan, to turn the house into eight new flats, was approved by councillors earlier this week despite opposition from more than a dozen neighbours unhappy at the changes proposed to the ‘fine’ and ‘attractive’ villa.
New plans have been submitted to transform a church in the town centre and will be voted on next week. Plans for a new modern three-storey church centre next to Greyfriars Church on Friar Street with a roof top garden were approved in March 2020. But the church has since deemed the plans unaffordable and has now submitted new designs, using cheaper materials. Greyfriars still wants to demolish and rebuild the church centre, adjacent to the Grade I listed 14th century church, but now wants to change some of the materials used on the exterior of the building. It says it cannot fund the new building with the currently approved pallet of materials and, even with the revised material pallet, fundraising will still be required.
The After Dark The After Dark nightclub will have to close permanently, after it lost an appeal on Tuesday. Reading Borough Council’s (RBC) decision to revoke the legendary club’s licence in June 2019 was upheld by the High Wycombe Magistrates’ Court yesterday. The club’s licence was revoked by the council due to noise and safety concerns but, according to manager Zee Khan the magistrate upheld the decision because of the noise issues. The club has been closed since March due to the coronavirus pandemic. Mr Khan said the decision to revoke the licence was upheld due to one family complaining about noise from the club.
The blue plaques The four blue plaques are dedicated to Dominic Barbieri, Phoebe Cusden, Henry Addington and Thomas Huntley. Mr Barbieri was an Italian theologian who was prominent in spreading Catholicism in England and died in Reading. His plaque is on a modern block of flats on Caversham Road before the railway bridge. Ms Cusden was an educationalist, peace campaigner, socialist, feminist and Reading councillor, who was once mayor of Reading and founded the Reading Dusseldorf Association in 1947. Her blue plaque can normally be found on Castle Street but is currently not on display. Reading Civic Society has removed the plaque temporarily to replace the “warped” wooden base with something more appropriate.