Wokingham

“Reading Borough Council’s plans for the Inner Distribution Road (IDR) may solve some traffic problems for the immediate Reading town centre but it will have a massive knock-on effect on surrounding roads and districts. They have only considered the scheme in isolation – there has been no consideration for neighbouring areas.” That’s the view of Wokingham District Council following a meeting with Reading Borough Council last week.

The meeting had been received as a welcome step forward, but Wokingham district council and neighbouring parish councils remain extremely concerned about the impact Reading’s plans for the Inner Distribution Road (IDR) will have on their roads.

On Thursday August 31, officers from Reading Borough Council and their transport consultants visited the district council’s offices in Wokingham to present their latest traffic modelling. Woodley and Earley Town Councils and Sonning and Shinfield Parish Councils - which all share their border with Reading - also attended to find out more about the proposals as did representatives from Winnersh Parish Council and Oxfordshire County Council.

And MPs Theresa May, John Redwood and Rob Wilson were also present to quiz the transport officers.

Wokingham District Council originally (March) objected to the proposals on the following grounds:

* More detailed and updated information and assessment is required to establish the impacts of the scheme upon the traffic in the Wokingham district during the morning and afternoon peak hours.
* No assessment has been completed as to the likely impact of the scheme outside of the morning and afternoon peak hours.
* Without the information required above, Reading Borough Council is unable to demonstrate that it can satisfy the duty imposed by Section 16 of the Traffic Management Act (TMA) 2004 in ‘facilitating the expeditious movement of traffic on road networks for which another authority is the traffic authority’.

The meeting with Reading was organised at Wokingham’s request to allow councillors, officers and neighbouring parishes to find out this information but they remain concerned on the following issues:

* Further information is required to assess the full impact of the scheme on the Wokingham district highway network.
* Lack of consideration by Reading Borough Council regarding the impact of the scheme.
* Lack of consideration of the scheme within a wider strategic context of traffic management measures, such as a Third Thames Crossing. The proposals as they stand would indicate a significant increase in traffic on Sonning Bridge.
* Refusal by Reading to consider a local/public inquiry for a fair and transparent assessment and decision making process.
* Continuing concerns over the validity and robustness of the Reading Transport Model baseline and forecast data.
* No consideration of future development within the Wokingham district and surrounding areas.
* Lack of consideration of the Environmental Statement responses.
* Lack of assessment outside of a.m. and p.m. peak hours.

Executive member for Wokingham highways and transport Cllr Anthony Pollock said: “I’m pleased that Reading took the time to come and speak to us, but we still have some very real concerns about Reading’s proposals.

“We know that our towns and parishes are also very concerned about the increased level of traffic that could potentially be coming their way. We will be discussing this further on Thursday and a legal challenge to Reading’s proposals remains a very real possibility.”

The district council will make a decision on its further response to the IDR proposals after the decision by Reading Borough Council on its Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) on Thursday September 7.

Wokingham District Council