 Park and ride sites revived thanks to grants
We’ve agreed to provide funding, through a Government grant, to relaunch a park and ride bus between Winnersh Triangle and central Reading from late November.
It’ll run every 20 minutes on Saturdays until at least April 2024. We’d like to extend it to weekdays as well, depending on passenger numbers.
Funding for this renewed Reading Buses service is time-limited, so it must become commercially viable by March 2025 or it might have to stop again.
We’re also opening Coppid Beech car park, off Oak Avenue in Wokingham town, so passengers can park near the Lion 4/X4 bus stops on London Road.
Usage of the site, which also has 14 electric vehicle chargepoints, will be monitored and it could shut again if it isn’t well used. Please make the most of it if you can.
The Department for Transport provided funding to support our Bus Service Improvement Plan. We published this as part of our efforts to cut air pollution and tackle the climate emergency.
The park and ride sites were funded by the Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership and contributions from housing developers.
 Innovative housing scheme wins industry award
Our modular temporary housing project at Grovelands Park in Winnersh was named Best Residential Development and highly commended as Best Low Carbon Project in this year’s Royal Berkshire Property Awards.
The scheme, designed by Edgingtons Architects and built by Rollalong, comprises 23 furnished two-bedroom units arranged in two storeys with their own entrances, allowing local families to live comfortably while awaiting a permanent home.
The first phase of six units was completed last year and occupied shortly before Christmas. The rest are set for occupation by the end of the year.
The homes have features like high insulation, rooftop solar panels and energy-efficient appliances. These give them the highest Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of A, helping towards our climate commitments.
They also have advanced fire safety measures including a “misting” system developed in partnership with Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service.
We're thrilled to have won this award and will continue doing all we can to support residents facing the threat of homelessness.
 'Shop shop hooray' as district centre gets green light
We’ve agreed long-awaited proposals for shops and green space along with a pub, community centre, playground, allotments and other amenities in Arborfield Green.
Our planning committee has unanimously approved the scheme, to be built on a 10.6-hectare plot near Bohunt School and the leisure centre. It will serve the new community being built on the former Arborfield Garrison site.
The district centre will include a pedestrianised high street and public square and 18 commercial units, plus space for a pre-school, a day nursery, public house and community building.
There’ll be 206 new homes, including affordable ones, and the centre is set to include a supermarket which Sainsbury’s wants to run. This is subject to contract and a separate planning application, expected soon.
Building will take about three years but the first shops should open about 18 months after work starts. Anyone interested in commercial space should contact the developer Crest Nicholson, who are providing the centre.
We know it's been delayed, largely due to the pandemic and its economic impact on retailers, but we’ve worked closely with Crest to move it forward and we’re pleased to have reached this important milestone.
Image: Murdoch Wickham
 Children swing into action at new playground
We’ve opened a new playground at Payley Park, off Queens Road, to serve everyone living in the growing new community at North Wokingham.
Wokingham Borough Mayor Cllr Beth Rowland cut the ribbon at a ceremony last week, which was attended by Year 3 and 4 pupils from St Cecilia’s Primary School.
Also present were representatives from housing developer Vistry, who funded and built the playground under conditions linked to their planning permissions for new homes in this area.
It boasts equipment aimed at all ages including traditional and "nest" swings, rocking seats on springs, rotating seats and a ship with a small slide. Older children can enjoy a rope climbing frame, a larger slide, balance course and a zip wire as well as a multi-use games area suitable for football, basketball and more.
Developers funded or built much of North Wokingham’s community infrastructure including more than 35 hectares of nature parks, four of which are now open with a fifth to follow in due course.
 Double-bill of approvals for film studio plans
The creative industries in Wokingham Borough have been given another boost after plans for two film studio buildings were approved.
Our planning committee has allowed Shinfield Studios, which is being built on land we allocated for employment use as part of our local plan, to build offices and other facilities to support its film and television operations, as well as a café.
We’ve also given consent for Winnersh Film Studios to build a new sound stage on land off Eskdale Road, at Winnersh Triangle Business Park, as part of a bigger vision for a “creative quarter”.
Both will rate “excellent” against global BREEAM sustainability standards and will create substantial numbers of jobs, supporting our borough’s economic development.
Together, these ventures are expected to create a “cluster effect” attracting film and television productions to the borough.
The film and television industries will play an increasingly prominent role in our region's economy for years to come and we're pleased to be playing our part in enabling this.
 Museum's plans for Shinfield expected soon
We're expecting a planning application soon from the Natural History Museum for a new research centre at Thames Valley Science Park in Shinfield.
The museum held a public event earlier this year to seek resident's views on the plans for a sustainable new flagship centre to hold 28 million specimens from across 4.6 billion years.
This will serve as a hub for scientific research and digitising data to share with others around the world and would house about one-third of its collection, helping scientific research on a range of topics including climate change.
Its features would include an energy efficient design beyond the minimum standards, along with efficient lighting and equipment, as well as air source heat pumps and the use of renewable energy sources.
This project, if approved, would be funded by more than £200 million in Government investment. It's hoped that construction could start in late 2024 and finish in 2027, with the building coming into use from 2031.
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