New name for Taceham House could honour Thatcham stalwart

Suggestion for former mayor, chairman and school governor put forward

THE name of a Thatcham stalwart could grace the replacement for Taceham House.

Sovereign Housing is demolishing the former temporary housing site in the Haywards and replacing it with 10 homes – a mixture of houses and flats – which will be available to local people at an affordable rent.

West Berkshire Council asked residents to name the new building and Thatcham Town Council put forward its suggestion at a recent meeting.

Picking up on discussions he had heard, Mike Cole (Lib Dem, Thatcham North) proposed that the building be named Wootton Court in honour of David Wootton.

Mr Wootton moved to Thatcham in 1964 and was elected to Thatcham Parish Council in 1967.

He became the only person to be the chairman and mayor after the parish became a town.

He was a governor at Kennet School for 39 years, with 30 of them as chairman, and as a result, in 2007, Kennet’s new sixth-form building was named after him.

Between 2002 and 2009 Mr Wootton was the town council’s internal auditor, and was auditor for the Turnfields Charity accounts.

He was appointed a town council trustee on the parochial charities Thatcham Relief in Need and Lady Winchcombe Charity in 1978 and remained in that position until 2012.

He was awarded a Thatcham Civic Award in 2010, presented in recognition of people who have carried out work for the benefit of the local community.

Mr Wootton died in 2013 at the age of 82 after battling Parkinson’s disease.

Mr Cole said that it would be nice to have Mr Wootton’s name remembered but added: “You almost think you would want a more prestigious building because of the service he gave to the town over 40 years.”

Taceham House was used as temporary accommodation for local residents until 2009 when it became in need of repair and was no longer suitable to house people.

It sat empty from 2009 until demolition work on the derelict building began in November 2015. West Berkshire Council sold the derelict building to Sovereign for £1 earlier this year, following the completion of the prolonged deal.

Representatives from Sovereign, West Berkshire Council and Thatcham Town Council will decide on the name later this month.

Council spokesman Martin Dunscombe said that 18 people had put forward suggestions, including historic and more recent links to the area.

Although he would not reveal some of the suggestions, Mr Dunscombe said: “It’s clear that a lot of thought and a great deal of passion has been put in by local residents.”