• Make a contribution
  • Get the Print Edition
  • Sign up for our daily newsletter
Saturday, July 19, 2025
  • Login
Reading Today Online
  • HOME
  • YOUR AREA
    • All
    • Caversham
    • Central Reading
    • East Reading
    • Katesgrove
    • Reading
    • Southcote & Coley
    • Tilehurst & Norcot
    • Whitley

    Major disruptions expected all day on trains between London Waterloo to Reading

    Formal request to be made for western suburbs to be brought under the control of Reading council

    West Berkshire says ‘get off my patch’ to Reading following attempt of land grab

    Weaknesses found in protection of vulnerable children in Reading

    Green Park wins national award for health and wellbeing excellence

    PRIDE OF READING AWARDS: Founder of Nemesis Martial Arts provides essential life skills

    PRIDE OF READING AWARDS: Founder of Nemesis Martial Arts provides essential life skills

    Reading conference showcases waste and recycling best practice

    Fire Service taking applications for new cadets for new academic year

    Reading Festival 2025: Indie artists worth catching when the festival returns this summer

  • COMMUNITY
  • READING FC
  • SPORT
    • All
    • Basketball
    • Football
    • Rugby

    Reading FC in advanced talks to sign Nottingham Forest winger Josh Bowler

    Reading FC will find it tough to replicate ‘sensational’ season according to EFL pundit

    ‘We have a special season upon us’: Reading FC fans enjoy open day at Bearwood Park

    Yakou Meite teases fans over possible Reading FC return with latest social media post

    Racing star Bobby extends his championship lead with another race win

    Trialists revealed, including Wales international, as potential signings feature in Reading FC pre-season friendly

    Former Reading FC favourite to sign for Championship team

    Reading FC forward given ultimatum over future at the club

    Former Reading FC striker Andy Carroll joins new club in England after leaving France

  • ENTERTAINMENT
    • ARTS
    • READING FESTIVAL
    • READING PRIDE
    • WOKINGHAM FESTIVAL
  • PRIDE OF READING
  • OBITUARIES
  • JOBS
  • ADVERTISE
  • CONTACT US
No Result
View All Result
Reading Today Online
No Result
View All Result
Home Business

No planning reason to refuse a Wycombe request

Nick Clark, Local democracy reporter by Nick Clark, Local democracy reporter
Wednesday, March 20, 2024 11:11 am
in Business, Featured, Reading, Wokingham
A A
Bearwood. Pic: Reading FC.

Bearwood. Pic: Reading FC.

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

There would not have been a reason for Wokingham Borough Council to refuse Wycombe Wanderers permission to use Reading Football Club’s Bearwood training ground, a councillor has said.

The Buckinghamshire side have backed off from plans to buy the ground from Reading FC after it emerged that a planning condition said only Reading could use it. It means that Wycombe would have had to apply to Wokingham Borough Council to remove or change that condition.

But Clive Jones, a Wokingham Borough councillor and Liberal Democrat candidate for the constituency, told BBC Radio Berkshire he believes the council would probably have to say yes.

He said: “Personally I couldn’t see any issue. There wouldn’t have been a planning reason to say no, we can’t do that. But it’s just part of the process.”

Councillor Jones added that he is pleased that Wycombe has backed off from the purchase as he wants Reading FC to be sold along with all of its assets – including Bearwood.

Here, the LDRS explains why Wokingham Borough Council imposed that condition in the first place – and why it may have had to remove it if Wycombe pressed ahead.

Related posts

Major disruptions expected all day on trains between London Waterloo to Reading

Reading FC in advanced talks to sign Nottingham Forest winger Josh Bowler

Formal request to be made for western suburbs to be brought under the control of Reading council

West Berkshire says ‘get off my patch’ to Reading following attempt of land grab

When the council granted permission to build the training ground in 2015, the land was occupied by a former golf course.

The council said that building a training ground would have gone against its policies that limit development on countryside. But it decided that the harm done to the countryside would have been outweighed by the benefits of helping Reading FC to stay in the borough.

Council planning officers noted that Reading’s old Hogwood training ground was ‘no longer fit for purpose’. They said Reading needed improved training facilities so its academy could keep its coveted ‘category one’ status, and continued to attract investment and players.

They also accepted the club had been unable to find other suitable sites near Reading, and that moving to Bearwood would allow its ‘strong links to the area and community’ to continue.

These ‘special circumstances’ wouldn’t have existed for any other club. So the council included the now much debated ‘condition 4’ in the planning permission.

This says permission was ‘personal to Reading Football Club for the purposes outlined in the planning application only’. In other words – only Reading would be allowed to build and use it.

However that doesn’t stop anyone from applying to remove that condition now that the training ground has been built.

To refuse it, the council would have to find a reason in planning law or policy that allows it to say no. In other words, it would have to be able to prove this would cause more harm to the area.

While the council would probably have been able to stop another club building the training ground in 2015, it may not be able block another club using the ground now that it’s been built.

The prospect of a sale to Wycombe is receding – and a better deal could be on the cards.

Keep up to date by signing up for our daily newsletter

We don’t spam we only send our newsletter to people who have requested it.

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

Previous Post

Council waiving road closure fees for street parties once again this summer

Next Post

++FOUND++ Police appealing for help locating teenager missing from Winnersh

FOLLOW US

POPULAR STORIES

  • 47-year-old woman arrested after two pedestrians die in road traffic collision in Caversham

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Former Reading FC striker Andy Carroll joins new club in England after leaving France

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Reading FC forward given ultimatum over future at the club

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Masked men armed with weapons rob store in Reading

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Championship club close in on signing Reading FC defender Amadou Mbengue

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

RDG.Today – which is a Social Enterprise – provides Reading Borough with free, independent news coverage.

If you are able, please support our work

Click Here to Support RDG.Today

ABOUT US

Reading Today is dedicated to providing news online across the whole of the Borough of Reading. It is a Social Enterprise, existing to support the various communities in Reading Borough.

CONTACT US

news@wokinghampaper.co.uk

Reading Today Logo

Keep up to date with our daily newsletter

We don’t spam we only send our newsletter to people that have subscribed

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

The Wokingham Paper Ltd publications are regulated by IPSO – the Independent Press Standards Organisation.
If you have a complaint about a  The Wokingham Paper Ltd  publication in print or online, you should, in the first instance, contact the publication concerned, email: editor@wokingham.today, or telephone: 0118 327 2662. If it is not resolved to your satisfaction, you should contact IPSO by telephone: 0300 123 2220, or visit its website: www.ipso.co.uk. Members of the public are welcome to contact IPSO at any time if they are not sure how to proceed, or need advice on how to frame a complaint.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • HOME
  • MY AREA
    • Central Reading
    • East Reading
    • Bracknell
    • Calcot
    • Caversham
    • Crowthorne
    • Earley
  • COMMUNITY
  • SPORT
    • Reading FC
    • Football
    • Rugby
    • Basketball
  • ENTERTAINMENT
    • ARTS
    • READING FESTIVAL
    • READING PRIDE
    • WOKINGHAM FESTIVAL
  • PRIDE OF READING
  • OBITUARIES
  • JOBS
  • ADVERTISE
  • CONTACT US
  • SUPPORT US
  • SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER
  • WHERE TO GET THE PRINT EDITION

© 2021 - The Wokingham Paper Ltd - All Right Reserved.