Public inquiry over controversial traffic plans

Adam Hewitt • Published 15 Jul 2010 10:00 7 Comments

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PLANS to close off sliproads on a busy Reading roundabout are set for a public inquiry after they were halted by the Government.

The stopping-up of the sliproad from the northbound IDR up to the Chatham Street roundabout, from the roundabout down to the southbound IDR, and the southern portion of the roundabout itself, was a key part of the shelved phase two of Muse's Chatham Place development.

The developer planned to deck over the IDR and build on top of it but the recession meant the scheme, which was due to start in early 2008, was put on ice. Muse and the council pushed ahead with the stopping-up orders to ensure the legal position was secure when and if the scheme does happen.

Council spokesman Oscar Mortali said: "The council has been informed that there will be a Public Local Inquiry into the stopping up orders and we will of course co-operate fully with it. A date for this has not yet been set and the discussions are ongoing with the Government Office for the North East (GONE)."

The plans came under fierce criticism from motorists angry at the proposed new routes they would have to take, involving long diversions around Great Knollys Street, Weldale Street and Greyfriars Road.

A letter to objectors from GONE said the Transport Secretary had ordered the inquiry "in light of the outstanding objections".

Chatham Place's phase two was scheduled to include 358,000 sq ft of office space across three buildings, constructed on decks across the IDR between Chatham Street and Oxford Road, along with a hotel and some sort of leisure venue.

Plans shown to the Chronicle also included a possible Phase Three, which would be a 'landmark' building or even sculpture on what is now the Chatham Street roundabout.

Former borough transport leader, Labour's Tom Crisp, said when the traffic orders closing the sliproads were announced in 2007: "The decision to issue these traffic orders follows a considerable amount of work and consideration by the council's highways and planning staff, but we are certain that the orders will by hugely beneficial in enhancing this corner of the town centre."

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Howard Thomas
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Jul 15, 18:36
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Reading has a severe traffic problem! How did our all knowing council think that this would be helped by destroying a major rounabout junction in the middle of the town? Bring on this inquiry and lets see how they justify this stupidity. We need some CommonSense in this town!

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Sam_Chatterton
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Jul 15, 19:55
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What a waste of time and money! The council and Muse should just abandon these orders, save the country the expense of this inquiry. If they ever do find the money to go ahead with these decking plans, rethink them so they don't involve closing a major roundabout!

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Mustafa Chaudhary
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Jul 16, 18:03
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The IDR is an ugly concrete ravine; the result of an ever-increasing flow of cars. I was really looking forward to it being decked over and some lovely greenery being introduced to provide some breathing space. This development would have been a great boost to the local economy and a vast improvement to the urban landscape of Reading. I really hope they don't kill the scheme off.

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Howard Thomas
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Jul 17, 21:10
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Precisely Sam, if such a scheme could be achieved without destroying part of our road system then I would have no objection. What I always find hard to imagine is a council meeting where closing a large part of a major junction could be considered a good idea. Did nobody on the council manage to utter the words " What! we can't do that!" ?

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Howard Thomas
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Jul 17, 21:18
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Mustafa Chaudary.............no chance you could be Cllr Chaudary I suppose !

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andrew
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Jul 18, 16:25
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The decking itself isn't a bad idea - it may open up the town centre a bit, revitalise that side of town. But I agree with the other commenters who wish there was a way of doing it without shutting a major roundabout - as someone who lives nearby and uses that roundabout a lot, I was gobsmacked when I saw the route i'd have to take. crazy.

reading those old stories this one links to though doesn't sound like it's all going to be happening any time soon

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Howard Thomas
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Jul 18, 16:50
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Andrew ...... You are right that its not going to happen anytime soon , but the council have put forward this 'stopping up order' to clear the legal ground should the economic situation change. The consultation period was at the back end of 2008 ( having been put of for at least a year before that) and it has taken all this time to decide that there should be a local public inquiry. It was the CommonSense Party that alerted people to what was proposed and urged them to object. The 3 parties on the council simply played dumb , hoping that noone would notice!

Lets hope that common sense will prevail when the inquiry takes place.

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