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Woodley and Earley town centres are being ignored in Wokingham regeneration
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Town centres ignored in Wokingham regeneration

By Victoria Smith
March 06, 2012

The £100 million regeneration scheme for Wokingham means other centres such as Earley and Woodley are being ignored, according to Liberal Democrats in the borough.

Councillor Phil Challis, Lib Dem member for Loddon, accused the Conservatives in Wokingham of not investing enough in neighbouring Woodley and Earley while pouring millions of pounds in Wokingham town centre.

Town centre 2016 regeneration deadline ‘not set in stone’

During a meeting of the council on Thursday, February 23, he said: “Woodley and Earley are roughly the same size as Wokingham.

“There is absolutely nothing in the capital vision to suggest that any money will be spent on them for at least the next 10 years.

“So Woodley and Earley – and the other smaller towns and villages – will continue to suffer from lack of investment for the foreseeable future.”

The council has earmarked £37 million to spend on the town centre regeneration project over the next three years.

Residents still have fears over town regeneration

The council plans to take on all the costs of the scheme, believed to be £100 million, while it will employ Wilson Bowden to act as development manager for the project.

£87m U-turn to fund regeneration

There are plans to use money made from the Wokingham town centre scheme to regenerate other areas of the borough once this project is finished.

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Lib Dem Cllr Challis does not provide the full story in his speech in the budget debate. First of all regeneration of our towns and villages is nw enshrined in our vision. A visionwhich he and his party refused to support.

Secondly he fails to tell readers that multi million pounds of investments have alrady been invested in Woodley. Such as the brand new school at Waingels; the brand new school in Addington; the first childrens centre in the Borough (Ambleside); a brand new care home in Alexandra Place. We have also continued to fund the Town Centre Management Initiative whilst removing a similar support for Wokingham Town.

This investment will continue. In contrast, Cllr Challis, as Deputy Leader of Woodley Town Council is the same councillor who removed the grant to the Mobile Information Centre (MICE). When asked what the 100 residents a day, mostly elderly, who use the service can do instead he told hem to use the internet.

This is the same Councillor who presides over losses on leisure facilities run by his Town Council of over 200,000 pounds and does nothing to reduce them. These losses equate to a surcharge of 20 pounds on the town council tax.