Oxford Road Local Facilities Improvement Consultation Begins

6,000 questionnaires are being posted through letterboxes in advance of two drop-in events being held at Battle Library on Tuesday April 16 – one from 11am to 1pm and the other from 3pm to 8pm – to discuss options and a further opportunity to complete the questionnaire.

The money is due to be paid to Reading Borough Council by developers David Wilson Homes as part of the 2006 planning permission to build 434 homes on the site of the former Battle Hospital.

Following consultation with the local community by local councillors in 2006, the proposals included a new health centre building for the Primary Care Trust (PCT) on land that the Trust owns. However, the PCT subsequently decided not to go forward with a new Health Centre in this location. This is due to a number of factors, including the provision of a drop-in surgery in the Broad Street Mall.

The 2006 planning agreement says that in the event of the Health Centre not being built, the developer, now David Wilson Homes, would pay the Council £1.5m as a contribution towards community-related benefits.

That money is now due to be paid to the local authority and Reading Borough Council is proposing to give residents in the area an opportunity to help inform the decision on how it can be spent to ensure it meets the needs of local people and the community.

Residents are being asked to fill in and return the questionnaire to: Improving Local Facilities in Battle and the neighbouring area, Reading Borough Council, Civic Centre, Reading, RG1 7AE. Alternatively, people will also be able to complete the short questionnaire online at http://www.reading.gov.uk/battlesurvey.