What do Thatcham residents think about town centre's possible refresh?

NewburyToday hits the Broadway to see what locals think

PEOPLE in Thatcham have shared their opinion on a possible new look for the town centre.

Last week The Newbury Weekly News reported on designs to ‘refresh’ the Broadway and High Street. The proposals include creating a ‘community focal point’, narrowing roads by widening pavements and creating a dedicated market/parking space, along with making the area more attractive for shoppers.

Speaking to the paper on Friday, the owner of Cook and Butcher in Thatcham Broadway, Pete Congerton, said that making the area more welcoming was a good thing but added that more parking would be required if Thatcham were to attract more shoppers.

“Parking in the town centre is pretty limited, especially on market days,” he said and suggested that the market could move on to the enlarged Broadway Green to free-up parking spaces.

Mr Congerton welcomed the idea of creating dedicated ‘courtesy crossings’ for pedestrians as he said that the current traffic calming measures were unclear and dangerous.

And he said that cars parking on only one side of High Street made sense as it only took one misparked car to cause carnage on the road.

He urged for any works to be carried out sympathetically with businesses as he said that traders had struggled when the council carried out works to widen the end of the High Street.

“If they do a big job here they need to do it properly. What scares me is if businesses are impacted while they are trying to improve things,” he said.

Elsewhere Thatcham resident Tony, who helps run Sall and Steve Creative Cakes at the Friday market, said he wanted to see a greater variety of shops and more use made of the Broadway outside of the Friday market, along with improved access for disabled people.

The design appraisal casts doubt on the future of the Broadway toilets, saying that their location ‘demands a more positive and well-designed feature’. Options range from redesign to demolition or splitting them into retail space.

“A shop in a toilet? That's stupid. Who’s going to buy stuff out of a toilet?” Tony said.

“I don’t know if you would get away with demolishing them in a conservation area. They’re in the right place... you don’t want to go five miles down the road to find a loo.”

Thatcham residents Martin and Chris Farr also thought that the area needed more parking, although they were unsure as to where the extra spaces would come from.

The design appraisal follows on from recommendations made in 2009 in order to help meet objectives for the future of the town, including reinforcing Thatcham’s identity as an independent thriving market town and reducing the need for residents to travel out of town.

Mrs Farr agreed that the town needed to keep its independent feel as certain shops, like clothing, would not stand a chance in Thatcham owing to the choice available in Newbury, along with the proliferation of coffee shops.

The couple thought that the roads couldn’t be narrowed much further and that if the toilets were to be removed the council would need to think carefully about what would replace them.

Melanie, also from Thatcham, thought that the proposals seemed positive. She said that people enjoyed sitting outside cafés in the Kingsland Centre and therefore the idea of a ‘community kiosk’ in the Broadway would be nice.