Welcome to the website of The Wokingham Society
We hope you will find this website informative and interesting
and that we can perhaps persuade you to join the Society. You will
see from our aims that we work to protect Wokingham town's past,
present and future. This covers our heritage, our environment and
facilities for the benefit of the residents and workforce.
Wokingham is an attractive town with a good history. We hope you
will enjoy the website pages and that we can convince you of the
town's and the Society's value.
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Who are we
The Wokingham Society is an independent, non-political
organisation (charity no. 274988), registered with the Civic Trust
and affiliated to both the Open Spaces Society and Berks, Bucks and
Oxon Wildlife Trust.
It aims to help protect the environment and character of the town of
Wokingham,influence local development planning, encourage
conservation of historic buildings, other traditional features and
the town's nature resources, support local business and try to
ensure that civic amenities are maintained and improved.
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Wokingham Society withdraws application for part of Elms
Field to become a town green
It is with regret that the Trustees of the Wokingham Society have
decided to withdraw their application for part of Elms Field to
become a town green. This was done after long and very careful
consultation both with our solicitors and with a barrister who
specialises in these types of applications.
To read the Chairman's letter giving the reason for the decision
please click here.
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If you care about Wokingham come and join us
For information on membership of The Wokingham Society, click Join
WS, email The
Wokingham Society or pick up a leaflet from the Wokingham
Information Centre in the Town Hall.
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NEW Blue Plaques Trail Guide Leaflet
A new trail guide leaflet based on The Wokingham Society blue
plaques is now available. To view an electronic copy please go to
the Achievements page.
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Chairman's Update
Valuing our environment
At a time when championing a green agenda seems to be the current fashion it is possibly worth considering what valuing our environment can mean in practical terms. In the Wokingham Society we have throughout this year been working hard to preserve and enhance the environment not just for the current residents in Wokingham town, but also for future generations. For instance during the recent lovely weather it was lovely to see numerous people of different generations enjoying the open space afforded by Elms Field. This acted as a reminder, if any were needed, what a travesty it would be should the council continue to seek any development which detracted from the amount of green open space this area gives our town.
The Wokingham Society along with other Residents associations has been attending the recent examination in public over the core strategy. The active participation of Residents associations and their knowledgeable comments was proof of the keen interest many people have in the town where they live. Objections were intelligent and well formulated. These objections were not based on concepts such as 'we don't want that many houses here' but on well informed criticisms of how he Council's core strategy was undeliverable in terms of infrastructure. If any practical evidence is wanting one has only to consider the current chaos temporary closure of the Barkham Road has created or stand on the corner of Wellington Road and witness the congestion over the level crossing.
Caring about our environment also involves paying attention to what surrounds us and questioning how it can be improved. The rather desperate appearance of Peach Street for instance can give a visitor the impression that Wokingham just doesn't care. While no one is expecting the council to stop the recession we perhaps should bear in mind that Peach Street did look fairly desperate even before the credit crunch. When an individual owner such as the current owner of Sorrentos, offers to paint the outside of their building it does seem a little mean spirited that the council are asking £1000 from this owner in order to close the road. outside of their building.
Wokingham is still a lovely place to visit and to live in but I sometimes wonder what the average visitor makes of our town. If they are fortunate enough to be visiting the market during a lively market day, walk along the Terrace or along Rose Street they would have a wonderful impression of our town. However if they came by train and arrived at our concreted railway station and then relied on our current black finger posts to give them directions they would have a very different view. The misleading directions on the finger posts for instance could send them into some confusion. Isn't it about time the council sorted this out?
Best wishes
Tina
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