Give Wokingham a Green Space to Be Proud of (Wokingham Liberal Democrats)

Wokingham Liberal Democrats <info@wokinghamlibdems.org.uk>

Give Wokingham a Green Space to Be Proud of

July 17, 2006 12:00 AM

Lib Dem Response to the Council Consultation on the Land South of the Town Centre

Wokingham Liberal Democrats have responded to Wokingham District Council's call for ideas for land to the south of Wokingham town centre. The Council owns land around Elms Field, Wellington House and the Paddocks car park.

Councillor Prue Bray (Leader of the Lib Dem Councillor Group and Councillor for Winnersh ward) said, "This is an opportunity to do something exciting in Wokingham and turn the area into a lovely, welcoming green space for everyone who lives in, works in, or visits Wokingham. The Council have asked for ideas and the Lib Dem Group are strongly in favour of opening up the area as public recreation space."

The Lib Dem Group's response to the consultation includes:

§ Demolishing Wellington House ("Lego House"), and replacing it with key worker housing or a Vocational Training Centre.

§ Retain the rest of the Wellington House site as informal public open space, including removing the existing car park

§ Build a purpose-built facility for CAB, the Wokingham Volunteer Centre and Relate off Alexandra Court, near the Elms Road multi-storey car park.

§ Replace the under-used tennis courts and pitch and putt course with landscaped public open space, with an expanded children's play area.

§ Build a small pavilion for a refreshments outlet.

§ Create a small performance area for community use.

§ Create paths across the open space to lead people naturally from the station to the town centre.

Prue Bray said, "Wokingham is a lovely town, but it lacks a proper public recreation area. The project to regenerate this land is the ideal opportunity to give the people of Wokingham an attractive open space to enjoy. We've spoken to a lot of people about this, and their main concern is that the Tory-controlled Council will want to concrete over most of the area.

"Once green space is lost it cannot be brought back. We hope the Lib Dem Group's ideas will persuade the Tories not to sell the land for yet more development."

NOTE: The full submission document is available from the 'Downloads' section.