The town centre in Woodley is set to receive fresh attention, with a focus on improving the experience for shoppers.
The Woodley Precinct is a focal point for shoppers and people using services.
The Precinct has successfully retained a mix of national and independent stores with an occupancy rate of approximately 95 per cent.
Businesses in the town centre include the Bosco Lounge, Costa Coffee, Domino’s Pizza and Robert Dyas, and independents such as the HK Superstore, Home & Gifts and the Yaprak restaurant.
Wokingham Borough Council is focusing on breathing yet more life into the precinct as part of its town centre strategy.
This has involved appointing a ‘town centre officer’ to help drive improvements.
An impression of the benefits the town centre strategy could generate was given at the last full council meeting.
Councillor Caroline Smith (Liberal Democrats, Hillside) asked what positive impacts the strategy will have following the changes in working and shopping habits that were caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Cllr Mark Ashwell (Liberal Democrats, Evendons), the council’s executive member for economic development, replied: “Since the strategy was approved for Wokingham, Woodley and Twyford, our Economic Development team has been working closely with town and parish councils and with local partners to support their businesses.
“We have already delivered two successful campaigns, one for Mothering Sunday and another called Love Your Town.
“That campaign did not just promote our towns, it gave us fantastic new images and even drone footage that we can use in the future.
“A major step forward has been appointing a dedicated Town Centre Officer, someone who has been building strong relationships with local stakeholders.
“Alongside that, we have developed a Year One action plan, which focuses on three key things:
Producing detailed reports and studies to guide our decisions;
Setting up a town centre Strategic steering group; and
Providing ongoing support, networking and practical help for our local businesses.
“Now, like town centres everywhere, we face the challenges you describe, cost of living pressures, changing shopping habits and evolving ways of work, but we are taking these challenges seriously. Our plan is about helping our towns adapt, thrive and continue shopping and continue supporting local businesses for the longer term.
“We have made great progress, but there is still a lot of work to do and together, we can make our towns centres vibrant, resilient and a place which we are all proud of.”
After, that, cllr Greg Bello (Labour, Loddon), who represents Woodley, stated two-thirds of people wanted more specialist and independent stores in the precinct.
He asked what the council is doing to ensure the precinct can deliver on what residents want.
Cllr Ashwell replied: “The appointment of our Town Centre Officer, with the spotlight on Woodley, is going to be a great start point for that.
“You have got various different landlords there. We do own as a Borough Council some property there as well so, we are just going to work hard now at putting that strategic plan together.”
Cllr Ashwell gave the answers at the council meeting on November 27.
