Major investment announcement welcomed - 18th March 2008
News from Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead & Partnership for the Rejuvenation of Maidenhead (PRoM)
Major investment announcement welcomed
Council invites tenders for town centre Masterplan
Cross-party rejuvenation group formally launched
Proposals for the regeneration of Maidenhead town centre have taken three significant steps forward this week.
As the Royal Borough began a tendering process for urban designers to draw up a Masterplan for Maidenhead, one of the world’s largest property companies, ING Real Estate, announced it is proposing to invest more than £150m in a retail-led development linking the town centre to the station.
“This is very exciting news,” said council leader David Burbage. “We are well on the way to bringing in experts to assist in re-designing a town centre for the future and we are delighted to be in discussions at this early stage with a respected developer for one of the key areas of the town.”
More information (PDF document - opens in a new window)
A town review – Maidenhead’s metamorphosis
To round off this initiative a public meeting was held at
Moor Hall, Cookham on Monday, 27th February 2006 at 7pm.
A packed audience were given the chance to ask questions and
raise issues to representatives of the Chamber, Maidenhead Civic Society,
Councillors, Maidenhead Advertiser and Peter Prior of Summerleaze.
For a full report see the Maidenhead Advertiser,
March 3rd, 2006, pages 6 and 7.
Follow-up consultation meeting - 11th October 2005
The meeting was open to the public and Peter Sands expanded on the
Chamber's plans and Peter Prior of Summerleaze outlined the proposals
for York Stream.
See
feedback from the meeting
The Development Panel of the Maidenhead & District Chamber of Commerce has considered the whole of the Town Centre commercial area, mainly but not exclusively bound by the A4 in the North and Stafferton Way in the South, Oldfield Road in the East and Grenfell Road in the West, with a mandate to review all present major land uses and possible redevelopment sites.
Our plan looks at the main areas of the town that are run down or would benefit the whole by redevelopment and, warts and all, we put it forward for discussion. At least if it starts a debate about the way forward for Maidenhead then we have made one small step.
The town has been divided into 7 strategic
areas which could be developed in stages.
The areas to be considered are:
- AREA 1 - Centres on York Stream
- AREA 2 - Covers the sports field/Bowling Club and other uses fronting York Stream
- AREA 3 - Bounded by York Road, Queen Street South, Broadway and Park Street
- AREA 4 - The North-East part of the King Street, Queen Street, Broadway triangle
- AREA 5 - Berkshire House, a single site with a very unattractive development
- AREA 6 - Faces Bad Godesberg Way and lies between that and West Street up to Kidwells Park Drive
- AREA 7 - Centres on the Rail Station
As with most reviews the overall aim to improve the appearance and appeal of the town centre’s commercial heart, most particularly is retail and service functions for the local catchment area.
Our aim is to build on the boost that the major redevelopment for the Sainsbury’s site and its infrastructure improvements will undoubtedly bring to Maidenhead. It is the panel’s view, supported by the Chamber, that whilst we welcome the enlarged Sainsbury’s store, that alone will not be sufficient when comparisons are made with neighbouring towns, Windsor, Slough, Reading, High Wycombe, Bracknell and even Marlow are proposing or have carried out extensions and improvements to their retail offer and these areas are in direct competition to Maidenhead. We need to fight back and serve our local catchment better and more comprehensively.
With this in mind, we have looked at 7 important areas of the town centre which are inter-linked and should be so, but could be developed in stages. Overall we envisage an increase in retail floor space of approx. 250,000 sq.ft., which would be acceptable in terms of the position which Maidenhead holds in the retail hierarchy, i.e. A major town centre largely serving it’s catchment. The danger of inactivity is a gradual decline in the retail choice in the town which has, in the past, been its main strength.
Maidenhead is very well connected by road and rail East to West which is also a strength but can be an Achilles heel because it is easy to lose business and customers to other areas.
Maidenhead has lagged behind other towns for the last 20 years and has not changed or improved in any major way and therefore has been overtaken by better retail offers elsewhere. It is our view that addressing these issues is vital for Maidenhead and required by Maidonians.
Our plan looks at the main areas of the town that are run down or would benefit the whole by redevelopment and, warts and all, we put it forward for discussion. At least if it starts a debate about the way forward for Maidenhead then we have made one small step.