Yesterday I called in at the exhibition showing the proposals for the redevelopment of the Homebase and Toys R Us sites. The event was held in the permanently moored barge at Blakes Lock and, as these things go, it was one of the better ones, even providing drinks and cake! Continue reading “Home from Homebase”
Author: Reading-On-Thames
Smallmead and Small minds
What can a council do to make itself as unpopular as practically possible? The bright sparks down the road at West Berks have hit on the perfect formula. It turns out that there are four key factors to ensure universal discontent:
- Mess something up related to household waste – for many the bins are the showpiece local council responsibility – “it’s your one job!”, cries Joe Public
- Waste public money – always key to maximising disgruntlement
- Bicker amongst yourselves or your neighbours – nothing riles more than seeing elected representatives turning toddler-esque tantrums or taking their toys and sulking in the corner.
- Unfairness – if you screw everyone over you’ll only ever achieve a mild grumble. To truly enrage you have to arbitrarily target one subset of your electorate for your punishment.
Having identified the right recipe, the Newbury authority has validated its accuracy with devastating effect, combining lashings of each ingredient to produce what can only be described as “the mother of all unpopular policies”.
Throwing the Toys out of the Pram
This week a ‘screening opinion’ – a kind of forerunner to a planning application – has been submitted for the closure and redevelopment of Homebase and Toys R Us. The proposed scheme would see an incredible 800 homes built on the site in blocks of up to 19 storeys. Read on for some views and my typically optimistic vision as to how this whole area could be improved more substantially.
Reading 2050 -The plan for the Tram
What is #Reading2050?
A couple of weeks ago I attended an exhibition in town called Reading 2050. The initiative seeks to create a vision for the development of the town. Their representative was an enthusiastic Scottish lady who talked visitors through some glossy but fairly non-specific visuals. Their document talks of three alternative visions:
The electric shock coming down the line for Reading’s commuters
Reading has seen a massive investment in its railway infrastructure in recent years, with the station re-build, extra platforms, the flyover to the west, and the tunnel to the east. The next show in town is the electrification of the Great Western mainline. But closer inspection of the plans shows that Reading’s post-electric commuters could be in for something of a shock.
Continue reading “The electric shock coming down the line for Reading’s commuters”
Royal Elm Park – Two Sides to the Story
Last week plans were submitted to the council for the redevelopment of the Madejski Stadium car park. I covered this topic when the idea was unveiled at a public exhibition in November. Now that the formal application has gone in, we can take a closer look at the detail. There will probably be two opposing camps, so I thought I’d present each side of the argument. Continue reading “Royal Elm Park – Two Sides to the Story”
Is Reading getting older or younger?
Between the 2011 census and that of ten years prior, Reading’s average age went down. The national average, which was three years higher anyway, went up by eight months with Reading’s falling by five. But if our ages are easily and accurately recorded, I thought it would be worth exploring whether our buildings are achieving eternal youth with similar success. And that turns out to be slightly more difficult to determine…
A329(M) – Reading’s broken road, and how to fix it?
Let’s be honest, the A329(M) is all a bit of a mess. But in Autumn of 2015, its long-running white paint-based tinkering from the Highways Agency was finally completed, and with it the road’s downgrading from ‘Motorway’ to ‘Rush-Hour Car Park with added Peril’. To understand fully how this sorry transformation has unfolded, over many years, we need to look back at the history of this unfortunate motorway. Continue reading “A329(M) – Reading’s broken road, and how to fix it?”
Looking forward to Reading’s 2016
It took all my powers of self restraint not to entitle this post “Reading the future”, but that’s the gist – as 2016 gets underway, what might the year hold in store for the town? If a town could write itself some new year’s resolutions then I’d hope to see the following amongst them.
FAO the Broad Street Mall’s new owners
The Broad Street Mall was purchased by new owners in May 2015. Since then we’ve heard nothing of their plans for the site. That is until this month when a planning application has been submitted to the council. Sadly the limit of the ambition, at this stage at least, is to re-brand the signs on each of the entrances to the mall. So let’s take this opportunity to give the new owners some ideas on how they could bring vast improvements to this part of Reading, and potentially make some money along the way. Continue reading “FAO the Broad Street Mall’s new owners”
Reading-on-Thames 