The town centre is traversed by thousands of people every day, particularly in the busy areas of Broad Street and Friar Street, but also the Minster Quarter, the area behind Broad Street Mall.
Reading Borough Council is exploring ways in which public spaces in the town centre can be improved going forward.
The main aim of a proposed new policy would be to improve the town centre for residents, visitors, and shoppers – making it an attractive and easy place to navigate.
Another core part of the policy would be to create a positive environment in which to live, meet, and attend events, with the knock-on effect of helping footfall for the businesses in the town centre.
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Additionally, the council also wants to remove or reduce conflicts between cars and buses and people walking and cycling.
A strategy for these improvements to the town centre has been devised in a draft Town Centre Public Realm Strategy Supplementary Planning Document (SPD), which will inform what the future of the town centre will look like and how planning applications are determined.
To be adopted, the strategy would have to be approved by the council’s policy committee.
Mark Worringham, the council’s planning policy manager, has recommended the town centre public realm strategy SPD be approved for consultation.
He wrote: “The document is proposed to have SPD status in order that it can be used to inform planning decisions relating to developments that will affect the public realm.
“However, it is intended to also have a much wider purpose in guiding all interventions in the town centre public realm, whether or not planning permission is required, and including the council’s own works, to ensure that streets and spaces achieve a consistent quality across the town centre.”
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Councillors are being given the option to either move forward with a public consultation or not adopt the strategy at all.
Mr Worringham explained: “The main alternative option is not to produce a town centre public realm strategy SPD.
“This would continue the current situation of decisions affecting the public realm being undertaken without reference to a comprehensive strategy.
“There are a large number of major town centre developments for which planning permission is likely to be determined in the coming years, and failure to produce this strategy now would therefore miss an opportunity to ensure that the associated public realm improvements link into a wider strategy for the town centre.”
The town centre public realm strategy SPD is due to be discussed by the council’s policy committee on Wednesday, December 18.
