The Birches - Brand New Extra Care Scheme Launch Event - The Oakwood Centre, Woodley Tuesday 24th January 2017 - 3.30pm to 7.30pm “Stunning apartments, a welcoming community and on-site care & support at The Birches”
COVERING WOKINGHAM, FINCHAMPSTEAD, WINNERSH, SHINFIELD, WOODLEY, TWYFORD & SURROUNDING AREAS
THE WOKINGHAMPAPER
www.wokingham.today
N E WS W I T H A H E A R T F O R T H E B O R O U G H
As Peach Place works begin, retailers call on borough residents to shop local
Wokingham:
for business EXCLUSIVE
By PHIL CREIGHTON news@wokinghampaper.co.uk WOKINGHAM is still open for business. That’s the message that retailers and the council want residents to know after the first phase of the Peach Place project began on Monday. Over the next 18 months there will be disruption and building works taking place in the town centre as old buildings are torn down and a new
public plaza is put in place. This week, Wokingham Borough Council and the newly formed Wokingham Town Business Association (WTBA) wanted to send out a strong message to residents to keep calm and carry on shopping in the town. Jonathan Holley, who is spearheading the new WTBA, said that the works are not as bad as some people fear they will be, adding that the closure of Rose Street car park means just 3% of spaces have
been lost in the town centre, while it is just a single lane of Peach Street that is closing for three months and not the whole road for 18 months. He told The Wokingham Paper: “The Peach Place regeneration project is another step in the broader plan to enhance our town centre. “The regeneration work will of course generate some disruption as the work gets underway, but it is not as bad as many feared. Continued on page 3
Thursday, January 12, 2017 No. 90
60p
EXCLUSIVE Cowan quits Conservatives
‘The council is an autocratic, secret regime, with a blatant distrust of its residents’ Read resigning councillor’s explosive letter on page 6