Regeneration of Wokingham Town Centre
Celebrating the regeneration of Wokingham Town Centre
Wokingham is an attractive market town and a place people love. It’s consistently crowned as one of the best and happiest places to live in the UK.
It’s part of a borough where people can live, learn, work and grow. It’s where businesses flourish and social gatherings take place at the heart of a great community.
As a historic market town, Wokingham has a strong heritage which makes it distinct.
How and why the regeneration started
Back in the early 2000s, Wokingham was not the thriving town centre we see today. The town suffered from very poor quality small retail and office units. Significant income was being spent in other towns in Berkshire and traffic and cars dominated the town centre with many under-utilised and unattractive public spaces. The town was also facing the challenge of significant future housing growth and an increasing population and demand on services.
In response to these many challenges, in 2010, the council, in consultation with the community and businesses, developed the Town Centre Masterplan. This gave the community and businesses the opportunity to tell us what they wanted from their town centre and it set out the vision for how the town will develop up to 2026.
The objectives of the masterplan included:
- A thriving town centre; a mix of independent and larger retailers
- An eighteen-hour economy; retail, hospitality and leisure options for visitors throughout the day and evening
- Streets as places; connecting the town with high quality streets for pedestrians and cyclists
- Spaces to breathe; creating varied, active and accessible public spaces for recreation and socialising
- Setting the design standard; high quality architecture, an urban and environmentally responsible design to protect and enhance the character of town
Town centre regeneration
Read more about each area of the regeneration project
Timeline
See the regeneration year-by-year
Peach Place
Discover award-winning community spaces
Elms Field
Explore a greener, more connected town centre
Carnival Hub
Discover the new leisure centre and library
Market Place
See how Market Place was reshaped
Roads and train station
Find out how travel in Wokingham has improved
Community
See how new spaces created a stronger community
Businesses
Growing Wokingham’s local economy
Sustainability
Learn about energy-efficient upgrades
Investment
Find out about the council's investment
Awards
View Wokingham’s regeneration achievements
Future works
Discover what’s next for Wokingham town centre
