Scheme and consultations

Scheme

The route was selected from a choice of three options presented to the public in spring 2021 when funding for the borough from Active Travel Fund 2 (ATF2) was announced. 

Having gained approval from the executive member for Active Travel, Highways and Transport, to commence design on the Woodley to Reading Scheme, the designers produced a proposal which included making part of Woodlands Avenue one-way. 

A second consultation was held and this led to the rejection of a one-way section as people felt that was too much of an inconvenience for drivers. The scheme was therefore redesigned before carrying out another consultation in July/August 2022. At this stage it was clear that the £576k awarded would not be sufficient to deliver the full scheme. When Active Travel England (ATE) gave boroughs the opportunity to bid for additional funding in ATF3, WBC was awarded a further £2.95M based on the plans that were available at that time. 

Consultations

Woodley to Reading is one of the key routes which was identified in the borough’s Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP). The LCWIP was at an early stage of development when the funding opportunity arose, and three separate schemes were identified to make use of the available money. 

Since this time, the borough’s LCWIP has been consulted on and adopted by the Council, and this is our primary strategy for delivery of high-quality walking and cycle routes across the borough. The long-term aspiration is to deliver the entire network, however, there is a lot of work to do. The whole network will require substantial investment which we are mainly dependant on developer and grant funding to deliver. 

Aside from the LCWIP process, this project has been consulted on with the public on three separate occasions, each time we have responded to comments and amended the designs to 

The route was selected from a choice of three options presented to the public in spring 2021 when funding for the borough from Active Travel Fund 2 (ATF2) was announced. Having gained, the designers produced a proposal which included making part of Woodlands Avenue one-way. A second consultation was held and this led to the rejection of a one-way section and a redesign. 

The progression is summarised below:

• November 2020 - Wokingham Borough Council lwas awarded over £500k through Active Travel Fund 2
• March 2021 - Initial consultation on three scheme proposals identified in our emerging Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan
• July 2021 - Findings of first consultation and Vfm IEMD approving that Wokingham Borough Council will continue to develop Woodley and Reading ATR
• February 2022 - Second consultation on the preliminary design drawings
• February 2022 - Wokingham Borough Council secured a further £2.95m through Active Travel Fund 3
• May 2022 - Strong opposition for the one-way proposal
• May 2022 - Meeting with Active Travel England
• May 2022 - Development of alternative design options
• August 2022 - Third consultation on the amended preliminary  design drawings

There have been a number of delays to the project throughout its life, with the design being iterated on to meet both the needs of our residents as well as those of the funding body because we must meet the terms and conditions of their grant.