A BID has been launched by Reading Borough Council to secure more than £1.7m to fund its project to restore the Abbey Ruins.

The council has made its second round application bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund, following the first round development grant bid in June last year.

If successful, the council anticipates that work on the project will begin next year, and the ruins could reopen in 2018, after they were closed to the public for health and safety reasons.

Since receiving permission to start the Reading Abbey Revealed project’s development stage in September last year, the project team has appointed two consultants to design plans for public activities around the Abbey Quarter.

There is also a detailed programme of conservation and repairs for the Abbey Ruins and the Abbey Gate has been developed by the project’s architects.

The development of the plans involved consultations with both stakeholders and residents, with an online survey being completed by more than 1,000 locals, the most responses ever received for a Heritage Lottery Fund project.

The results showed that 99.5 per cent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that the ruins and the gate are an important part of Reading’s history and identity.

Councillor Tony Page, lead councillor for strategic environment, planning and transport, said:”The Abbey is a site of national and international importance and the Reading Abbey Revealed project will ensure it takes its rightful place on the map.

“Our plans will open up the Abbey Quarter so that residents, visitors and future generations can appreciate and enjoy it.

“After a very successful development phase, I look forward to receiving positive news on this bid in the New Year.”