Exclusive news about Reading Gaol, solar power success, and a red-hot meeting about the future of culture: July in Reading
What really happened in Reading in July 2026
Looking for the best Reading news and stories from July 2026? Here are the biggest investigations, interviews and features published by The Reading Reporter during the month.
Nothing beats Henley Regatta for people watching – and daft blazers. I didn’t expect to learn an important lesson about Reading amid the clinking champagne glasses and salmon chinos though.
The detachment of Reading’s culture from many of its residents is how July began and ended for The Reading Reporter, from that sunny day by the riverbank in RG9 to a meeting of cultural leaders on a sweltering summer’s evening back in town.
But really it was all about Reading Gaol this month.
The Reading Reporter has been investigating the delays to the redevelopment of Reading Gaol, and why its owner Channing Bi has gone silent after his public promises to turn the site into an arts and culture hub.
After months of chasing contacts, meeting with insiders, and talking with people who have intimate understanding of the prison site, The Reading Reporter exclusively revealed a series of new developments:
Banksy’s mural and dead bodies are among the pitfalls for the site's redevelopment. Read exclusive part two here
Banksy never gave money to the Council’s Reading prison bid and ignored pleas for help –despite his public pledge. Read exclusive part three here
After breaking these new developments, Bi responded to The Reading Reporter’s questions about his plans for the Gaol, ending his silence on why he has not yet submitted a planning application despite promising to do so during 2025.
Bi explained why the "exceptionally complex" redevelopment has stalled, and indicated that its redevelopment has effectively returned to an early planning stage after a review last year.
That means that substantial redevelopment work will not happen any time soon.
The Chinese businessman did, however, say that he remains “fully committed” to redeveloping the prison site into “a major arts and community hub”. He also ruled out building flats on the site. Read Reading Gaol owner explains.
The future of culture in Reading was the hot topic at that sweaty meeting at the university’s London Road campus.
The meeting exposed the frustration lingering from Reading’s failed City of Culture bid earlier this year – and a sense of injustice.
Others, however, thought that Reading (and its bid) got exactly what it deserved.
The heat of the moment did lead to promises of a new plan to develop culture in this town. Read the full piece here
Henley, of course, sticks to what it does best. There’s not much need to reinvent a giant posh piss-up by the river.
But it’s easy to forget just how connected Reading is with the world-class sporting event taking place somewhere amid the drinking.
And how the town of Henley embraces its famous festival and vice-versa – showed Reading a thing or two about how to maximise its own most important week of the year. Full piece here
If you’re now despairing that Reading can’t get anything done right, take good note of the solar power project on the roof of the bus depot.
I revealed how it’s taken seven years of hard work, but the vision to fit a solar power plant there is finally nearing reality, thanks to an explosion of community investment.
They’ve raised enough money, in fact, to dramatically increase the scale of the project into a highly-visible symbol of a town focused on a clean energy transition. Revealed how Reading buses got solar
Reading’s clean energy ambitions are soaring. Let’s see if its cultural ambitions can match them.
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Find out what happened in August as it happens!
See you there,
Chris (The Reading Reporter)