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Wokingham Borough Council hoped to have the new town centre up and running by 2016
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Town centre 2016 regeneration deadline ‘not set in stone’

By Victoria Smith
February 28, 2012

Wokingham may have to wait longer for its town centre regeneration but the project will not create empty units, council bosses have promised.

Wokingham Borough Council hoped to have the new town centre up and running by 2016. Although it remains committed to the project, stumping up £37 million in funding over the next few years, it has admitted it may not hit this deadline.

Leaders behind the project, which the council launched in 2008, say shop units will be built to demand, so tenants will be lined up to open for business as soon as building work is complete.

Councillor David Lee, leader of the council, said when asked if townspeople could expect the town centre to be completed by 2016: “It may or may not.

“The issue is all about pre-letting. We can’t gamble with residents’ money by building shops in the hope Fred Bloggs might come along and rent it.

“We can’t build a building until it’s pre-let.”

A similar method has been adopted by Bracknell Regeneration Partnership (BRP) in the long-awaited regeneration of that town centre, however this scheme has also hit delays due to the economic downturn.

BRP recently won planning permission for a redevelopment of Princess Square in Bracknell town centre including a large new store, however a tenant has not yet been confirmed for the new unit and BRP has said it is not expecting to make another announcement on this until the summer. Cllr Anthony Pollock, executive member for finance at Wokingham, said Wokingham is a very different town centre compared to Bracknell and this would be reflected in the success of the Wokingham regeneration.

He said: “Bracknell is different, the Bracknell demographic is different, the retail offering is different. I remember going to see it [Bracknell] in 1973 and I think it was 20 years before I went back and I won’t be going back.”

Cllr Lee added the demand-led method of building was being used by Segro at IQ Winnersh business park, where a 20-year planning permission was granted for a multi-million pound redevelopment of the site. He said this method means Wokingham has a very low amount of empty office space.

Cllr Lee said: “If you look at Bracknell there are millions of empty square feet of offices. We are not suffering from that because there is a sensible approach to letting.”

The council plans to start the regeneration project by refurbishing the frontage of shops on the corner of Rose Street and Market Place, including the Clarks shoe shop. This is expected to begin this year.

In the later stages of the project, which will include sites in Peach Street and on Elms Field, new shops and restaurants will be created, along with a supermarket and hotel.

The council is already receiving interest from retailers wanting to move into the town.

Cllr UllaKarin Clark, executive member for internal services, said: “The attraction of Wokingham is that it is a market town and there are a lot of companies that would like to work in that environment. We are very lucky.

“We have many companies that have expressed an interest in coming to Wokingham.”

The town centre regeneration is a major feature of the council’s budget for 2012/13.

When the scheme is built, it is expected to generate £4 million annually in rents for the council, which is planning to retain all the assets when they are complete.

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Most recent user comments 14 of 15

So... anything we can do (that will make a difference)? I feel like we're watching a car crash very slowly, but are unable to do anything about it.

Damiano_Tommassi, Wokingham
28/02/2012 at 16:03

My mother in law went to a public display of this and when she questioned the removal of green space she was told "but you will get a band stand instead"

I agree with previous comment the way that Wokingham BC works is that we will proabably be Wokingham DC again before this actually happens as the wheels turn very slow if not virtually motionless round here.

Does anyone remember the Wokingham Distribution Road which was proposed about 20 years ago the council brought houses ready to demolish and then nothing.

The T's, Winnersh
28/02/2012 at 15:27

Thanks Matthew; I don't do Twitter, but if you want to get that going...

Damiano_Tommassi, Wokingham
28/02/2012 at 15:05

@Damiano_Tommassi

#OccupyElmsField?

Matthew S. Dent, Wargrave
28/02/2012 at 14:24

Is there anything that we as taxpayers and citizens of the area can do to prevent Elms Field being tarmac-ed?

Please don't say 'consultation period', because that's Orwellian doublespeak for 'lip service'.

Oh, nor 'vote for someone else' - that would have no effect on this situation.

Damiano_Tommassi, Wokingham
28/02/2012 at 13:40

Flffball;

Sadly, I suspect WBC see buildings as a revenue source; business rates or council tax and open space as a cost; maintenance etc.

I think we should have more open spaces rather than less. I think a green open space, such as a small garden, in the town centre where office staff could chill at lunch time away from their desks, would be good for everyone's well being but, for the reasons previously stated, I suspect it won't happen.

Councils, always seem to me, to put revenue streams ahead of everything else.

Tonk, Wokingham
28/02/2012 at 13:05

So, if they are building on Elms field, which buildings are they knocking down to create a replacement park?

Fluffball, Berkshire
28/02/2012 at 12:55

It is intersting that consistent with the current situation at that end of Elms Field, even the artists impression contains no seats suitable for pensioners.

PoneRana, Wokingham
28/02/2012 at 11:49

Andy Shaw, I believe £98m would be the total spend (assuming anything that has been estimated so far is correct - the dates clearly aren't), but the council's 'exposure' is £37m. Whether or not that's a reasonable amount of money to be spending on this project is still debatable, though.

Speaking personally as someone who lives just off the high street, I shop in Reading; sticking a massive John Lewis or the like at the bottom of Elms Road is not going to change that, but might encourage me to move out of town in search of somewhere I can still find a tree within a mile of my home.

Damiano_Tommassi, Wokingham
28/02/2012 at 11:35

So it the 37 million on top of the 98 already spent? Still sounds like a huge gameble with tax payers money to me.

Andy Shaw
28/02/2012 at 11:28

Not building new shops until they have been pre-let is not sufficient. New shops should not be built while there are empty shops of similar size available in the town centre. This must be policed by the planning department. There are already signs that Peach Street is turning into a street of empty shops starting from the All Saints end. The priority should be for the council to address this malaise before any development starts on Elms Field.

Curing this malaise is not a simple matter of filling the empty shops with arts centres and extensions to estate agents but filling them with genuine retail businesses.

PoneRana, Wokingham
28/02/2012 at 11:24

Here we go again....

what's the betting we are still talking about this, with some new lovely 'artists impressions' come 2025?

HatsOfDoom
28/02/2012 at 10:56

"on Elms Field, new shops and restaurants will be created, along with a supermarket and hotel" - because.... we need things things more than we need green space?

May or may not happen by 2016? Oh sweet lord...

Damiano_Tommassi, Wokingham
28/02/2012 at 09:31

which of these has been running the longest.1,the wokingham town centre regeneration.2 wokingham station crossing.3,the mousetrap.answers on a postcard please.