“Distinctly Caversham” is how the people behind the redevelopment of St Martin’s Precinct feel the project will look by the end of 2016.

A boutique cinema is close to being a reality, Pizza Express will be moving in beneath new homes, Waitrose supermarket is

set to increase in size by a third, and two new public plazas are set to draw people into the village throughout the day and into the evening.

Even the public toilets are set to be upgraded, with the loos currently in the car park demolished and new ones placed in the foyer of the redeveloped supermarket.

Matt Chillingworth, asset manager for Hermes Investment Management that owns the precinct, said the changes are afoot as a lack of investment and modernisation would affect the number of people using Caversham to shop so it was looking at it as a “long term investment”.

The planning application is set to be considered by Reading Borough Council in the next few months and, if passed, work could start in September, almost four years after redevelopment was first mooted.

The project is set to cost £16million, an amount that has crept up as they try to improve features in consultation with community groups.

He said: “Unfortunately we are restricted by the footprint of the buildings here already and as this is a refurbishment, not a knock down and start again. It affects the materials used and, after several meetings with concerned parties, we have changed some aspects that are actually costing more money.”

He said that the canopies over the shops were staying as the precinct would have to shut completely if they were to be removed.

“The shops that are here today are staying,” said the asset manager.

The work will start with a new block of flats above Pizza Express between Marc Antoni hair salon and the old telephone exchange and gradually work its way towards Waitrose.

Mr Chillingworth said: “A boutique cinema above Iceland fits the demographic nicely. The Pizza Express is offering something different in Caversham and it’s nice to have a mix of independent and national retailers.”

Attention has also been paid to the rear aspect of the precinct, trying to make it more appealing than the service entrance of the shops currently there.

A public square, with 47 of the planned 49 trees in the development, will have CCTV and will be part of a pedestrian thoroughfare, linking up with a new pedestrian bridge being built across the Thames.

The car park to the rear of Waitrose and Caversham Health and Fitness Club will become two-storey, with 268 spaces for shoppers and 40 for residents.

The entrance and exit was still set to be under the archway off Gosbrook Road but Mr Chillingworth said there would be aisles to allow two cars to pass and measures to improve traffic flow.

He added: “We have engaged with as many community groups as we can and have met Caversham and District Residents Association and Caversham Traders Association.”