PLANS to spend a potential £2 million on improving three of the town's community hubs were given the green light by council chiefs this week.

Improvements to Battle Library, Southcote Community Centre and South Reading Youth and Community Centre (SRYCC) will total £1.8m, with a contingency spend of £200k.

Upgrades will be funded by partly by the disposal of Southcote and Whitley Library, as well as grant funding and a developer contribution.

Councillor Liz Terry, lead member for Neighbourhoods, said: "It is really critical that we get on and do this now to help the children, young people and families who depend on these small communities.

"There has been a huge amount of work with local residents in terms of finding out what they want out of the improvements.

"We have been working hard to make sure that everyone has been included in the consultation. It is always difficult to access funds and we can borrow at quite low levels.

"While these are challenging times, a lot of work has been done to secure the facilities for the people of Reading."

Battle Library will operate at reduced hours, while services in Southcote and Whitley will be relocated across the three community hubs.

Renovations to SRYCC are expected to be the most expensive part of the plans, totaling a potential £750k, while Southcote Community Centre will house library services as part of a £550k extension.

The council's Policy Committee agreed to the lucrative plans on Monday evening, with services in Southcote and Whitley being scrapped to save funds.

Councillor Rachel Eden, lead member for Adult Social Care, added: "We can make savings without losing our ambition for residents.

"These services are vitally important to our community in terms of keeping people active and tackling isolation.

"It has been a challenge for our officers, but it has been well met and well worth meeting."