 Museum building almost ready for handover
The British Museum's plans to open a new Archaeological Research Centre at the Thames Valley Science Park in Shinfield are about to take an important step forward.
The single-storey hub, designed by architect John McAslan + Partners, is set to be handed over to the museum this month and the shelving to hold items from its collection will be installed almost immediately afterwards.
The first artefacts will be moved over from London early next year, before the museum's existing storage facility at Blythe House closes. They will include a range of ancient sculptures, mosaics, groups of related items and historic casts.
The local community, including school pupils and heritage organisations, will be able to visit the centre by appointment and it will also be accessible to students and academics. We'll let you know when an opening date is confirmed.
Film studios continue taking shape
Work also continues apace on Shinfield Studios, a major international film and TV production hub at the science park which we gave planning permission for last year - and which has since confirmed Disney among its first clients.
The framework is now up for one of its 18 permanent soundstages, while another is now in progress and can be seen above the foundations. Plans are under way for a backlot, a kind of outdoor filming area, and the whole site is set to open next year.
The studios are already operating from four temporary stages and workshops and when the project is completed, it is expected to create about 1,500 jobs while giving the wider economy a boost and creating a similar number of jobs elsewhere.
The buildings have been designed to reduce as much energy usage as possible, in line with the council's aspiration to address the climate emergency by doing all it can to help Wokingham borough become a net-zero carbon producer by 2030.
They will use modular construction to reduce building waste and construction traffic and have good insulation, solar roof panels generating 20 per cent of the site’s energy needs, air source heat pumps, cycle storage and electric vehicle charging points. They are also designed not to rely on natural gas for heating.
A major centre for culture and academia
The Natural History Museum also hopes to open a new archiving and digitisation centre at the science park, which is owned by the University of Reading.
It would move more than 27 million specimens, about one-third of its collection, and open a specialist hub that would allow it to share its data with scientists around the world - in turn helping a range of projects to tackle world hunger, climate change and other threats to the planet.
This would hopefully open in 2026, subject to planning permission.
 Sports pitches proposals updated
The council will soon be making a decision on the University of Reading's detailed planning application for new sports pitches at High Copse Common, off Hyde End Lane near Spencers Wood.
The scheme was awarded outline permission in 2012, as part of a wider application for new housing and other amenities in the Shinfield West area, and the developer is still required to provide it under a legal agreement made at that time.
If this application is approved, the land could be used as either a single cricket field or as two football pitches, with a separate application for a cricket pavilion expected to follow shortly afterwards.
Since submitting it a few months ago, the University has amended the site layout slightly in response to comments from residents. Shinfield Parish Council says it supports the provision of additional football and cricket pitches in the parish.
Meanwhile, as previously reported in this newsletter, an extra football pitch and car park are being laid at Ryeish Green Sports Hub, also off Hyde End Lane. These will be usable once the land has had time to settle.
 Primary school to expand capacity
The Keys Academy Trust, which runs Alder Grove Primary School in Shinfield, is pleased to announce that it is expanding from one to two classes in Year 3 for September 2023.
The Church of England school, which opened in 2020 to serve new homes in the area, is inviting prospective parents to attend a series of open events in November and December or early next year.
Its Parent/Carer Staff Association is also thanking everyone who helped to make its recent summer fayre an enormous success, raising more than £4,000 to support pupils through developing the outdoor play and learning areas.
The event was well attended with activities including face painting, a bouncy castle, track ride, raffle, coconut shy, cup pong, hook a duck, beat the goalie and much more as well as stalls selling food and other goodies.
The school was funded by legal agreements with developers as part of their planning permission to build new housing in the parish.
 Taking care of treasured green spaces
We're getting ready to take over management of the new nature park at Parklands, which opened off Basingstoke Road in Three Mile Cross a few months ago.
This 1.6-hectare green space has new trees and hedges alongside existing hedgerows, a network of footpaths with bridges plus two drainage ponds which form a wet grassland area. It's a haven for a variety of species including bats, birds, stag beetles, hedgehogs, reptiles and amphibians.
It was provided by developers building new homes in the area, which was required as a condition of their planning permission for the housing, and we're preparing to take over now that vegetation has finished growing.
In all, there are six nature parks in Shinfield including Langley Mead, now being upgraded and expanded from 18 hectares to 40 hectares, plus The Ridge off Hyde End Lane, May's Farm Meadows, Five Acre Field and Clares Green Field.
Find out more about these and plan your next visit on the Thames Valley Basin Heaths Partnership's website - or find out about all our beautiful green spaces, including our country parks, on our website.
 Gathering support for a fairer deal on housing
We’re keeping up pressure on the Government to reduce the number of new homes that the borough is being forced to take - and to reform national planning rules to put more power in local hands.
The council leader Cllr Clive Jones, chief executive Susan Parsonage and other council representatives recently met the former prime minister and MP for Maidenhead Theresa May to seek her support for our call for a planning system that works for local communities.
Cllr Jones has also written to Greg Clark MP, who is responsible for the system as the Government’s new housing minister, urging him to honour his predecessor Michael Gove’s commitment to visit the borough and discuss this urgent issue in person.
Mr Gove promised to visit when he met Cllr Jones at the Local Government Association’s annual conference in Harrogate a few weeks ago, but has since been replaced.
 Help us to help you walk and cycle more
We’d like to hear your thoughts on our proposal to make walking and cycling around Wokingham borough safer and more accessible.
Until 19 August, we’re seeking people’s views on our draft Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP), which suggests improvements around the borough to help people walk, wheel, scoot or cycle and will help secure funding.
The draft will be finished in the autumn but will always be open to updates and new ideas. It will outline the most beneficial active travel routes and propose specific measures in places where the community wants them.
Examples in Shinfield parish include reducing the speed limit on several sections of road to 30mph, as well as to 20mph outside Crosfields School on the A327 Shinfield Road, and the installation of segregated cycle tracks.
With the increasing cost of fuel, walking and cycling are likely to become more attractive for short journeys. We want to enable this by making it safe, comfortable, affordable and inclusive for everybody.
 Communications - how are we doing?
We're thinking about how we communicate and engage with you and want to hear your views, so please take part in our short survey to shape how we do this in future.
We want feedback on how you hear about the work we're doing, how involved you feel in decisions we make, the types of things you want to hear about from us and more. You can respond by 19 August using the button below.
 Planting the borough's tree stories
While you’re out and about this summer, why not take a snap of your favourite tree within the borough for our new tree stories project? Trees are hugely important, giving us oxygen, storing carbon, habitats for wildlife and providing us with tools and shelter.
We want to hear why particular trees are important to you. Maybe it's your favourite place to sit with a book? Or played as a child? Or it's a particularly old or rare species?
Please upload your picture to our Engage Wokingham Borough platform and share why you've chosen that tree. You may even see your photo and/or story featured on our social media pages and in our tree strategy!
|
