Reading Green Park

[whole diary]

[stuving]

Poking about in that new West Berks application's documents, there's an extension of the time limit for determination to 15/2/19. That was caused by arguments between all of them and the EA about flood risk, and whether the station is "essential transport infrastructure" and so can't just be put somewhere else.

[eightonedee]

Apologies all - having re-read the relevant paragraph of the GPDO, reproduced below, I missed a crucial element (shown in bold)-

Permitted development
A.  Development by railway undertakers on their operational land, required in connection with the movement of traffic by rail.

Development not permitted
A.1  Development is not permitted by Class A if it consists of or includes—

(a)the construction of a railway;
(b)the construction or erection of a hotel, railway station or bridge; or
(c)the construction or erection otherwise than wholly within a railway station of—
(i)an office, residential or educational building, or a building used for an industrial process, or
(ii)a car park, shop, restaurant, garage, petrol filling station or other building or structure provided under transport legislation.
Interpretation of Class A
A.2  For the purposes of Class A, references to the construction or erection of any building or structure include references to the reconstruction or alteration of a building or structure where its design or external appearance would be materially affected.

RBC^‡(resolve) is not a railway undertaker, so has to apply for planning permission.

Thanks Stuving for ferreting out the apparently missing West Berks application. Their website does indeed have all the relevant documentation and correspondence, and their closing date matches Wokingham's closing date for consultation. The "smoking gun" has been found!

The flood risk issue is very much a live one in the vicinity. The nearby major electricity and gas infrastructure facitilities had to be sandbagged by the armed forces twice in the winters of 2012/3 and 2013/4 to avoid large parts of Reading losing power from these installations being being flooded. The EA is currently reviewing its flood modelling in the area and this has caused delay in other planning applications including one that is at an appeal that has been adjourned twice since it started in September. The issue about piling putting the aquifer at risk is also understandable - the area east of the line was for many years "Smallmead Dump" - a refuse landfill for Reading.  It is a little surprising that it seems to be more difficult this time around, but the EA would no doubt claim (with some justification) that they have to deal with these matters with limited resources while continuing to discharge their day to day land drainage and flood defence responsibilities.

Let's hope we're near resolution of these issues - but my guess would be 2020 for opening at the earliest, not 2019.

[eightonedee]

Some good news - both West Berks and Wokingham Councils finally granted approval for the amended scheme on 28 March after a number of extensions to allow for EA input!

[CyclingSid]

Looks like they have started.

Going by yesterday the undergrowth/jungle on the Up side has been attacked,

[IndustryInsider]

Looks like they have started.

Going by yesterday the undergrowth/jungle on the Up side has been attacked,

Only ten years late, but hey-ho, a start is a start!  Unless that's just clearance for a ground survey of course!

[mjones]

They will be looking for newts and dormice.  It won't take long to find them, then they can stop work for another few years.

[IndustryInsider]

To be fair, it's only the Great Crested Dormouse that's a problem, other mice are fine.

[bradbrka]

I took a slight detour when walking around Green Park yesterday to look at the site of the Green Park station from the Kirtons Farm Road bridge to see if there has been any developments.

The answer is yes and no.

Yes, the ground work for the access road, parking, drop-off point etc. coming along.
No, nothing that will enable trains to stop.

I took some pictures and will try to share them tomorrow

[grahame]

I took a slight detour when walking around Green Park yesterday to look at the site of the Green Park station from the Kirtons Farm Road bridge to see if there has been any developments.

The answer is yes and no.

Yes, the ground work for the access road, parking, drop-off point etc. coming along.
No, nothing that will enable trains to stop.

I took some pictures and will try to share them tomorrow

Sounds like good news; I would expect that the access road is needed first for site access, with platforms coming later.  It certainly worked like that for platform extensions that have happened within my observation in the last couple of years such as Melksham and Freshford.

Your first post!    Welcome to the forum - yes, please do add pictures and keep us updated; although there are a lot of members, we're thinly spread and it's really useful getting the Reading (and Green Park) view.

[stuving]

Thanks for the information, bradbrka - and welcome to the forum as contributor.

Sounds like good news; I would expect that the access road is needed first for site access, with platforms coming later.  It certainly worked like that for platform extensions that have happened within my observation in the last couple of years such as Melksham and Freshford.

There are two things that might be called an "access road". The road layout for the interchange, to the east of the railway, is the one thing that could start right after the planners' "bang". It's an extension of the housing site, and parts of it have been used as construction compound and parking. The other is the "haul road" in from the west (Cottage Lane). That has to be built before anything much else on the Up side stationwise.

There are also a few underground preliminaries that may not show a lot - slightly shifting a 33kV cable to the east of the line and an S&T^▸ (Signalling and Telegraph) route to the west. The big overhead cables (132kV) are staying, as are the buried 33kV ones and watercourses just outside the northern end of the station site - they are the reason it was extended to the south and so invaded Wokingham.

edit: recount volts

[CyclingSid]

The sunshine and the previous persuaded me to get the bike out and go down and have a look.

Waiting at the traffic lights to go over the bridge was almost squashed by a large dumper. Over the bridge there were some cones and on the corner of the road to the power station. Round the corner a large excavator making a start at digging out the "verge" on the railway (west) side. Presumably the start of the "haul road" that stuving mentioned.

Is there going to be any passenger vehicle access on that side when it is completed?

[Reading General]

That's a good question, as the road in Green Park and the lane over the railway remain isolated from each other to prevent through traffic. It would make sense to have some access to at least drop people off on that side. There is the possibility that parking could occur on Kirton's Farm Road i guess.
This is the housing development happening right next to the station
https://www.berkeleygroup.co.uk/developments/berkshire/reading/bankside-gardens

[IndustryInsider]

£515k for a 2-bed flat on the outskirts of Reading! Blimey!

[stuving]

That's a good question, as the road in Green Park and the lane over the railway remain isolated from each other to prevent through traffic. It would make sense to have some access to at least drop people off on that side. There is the possibility that parking could occur on Kirton's Farm Road i guess.

The only access will be via the interchange, and there will be no direct access to the Up platform apart from over the footbridge - not even for properly authorised newts. I presume the present works access in from Kirtons Farm Road will be reopened as part of Cycle Route 23 (currently diverted down Longwater Road), for pedestrians and bikes but not cars.

[Reading General]

£515k for a 2-bed flat on the outskirts of Reading! Blimey!

Quite! There are a fair few people who are under the impression that crossrail is a brand new fast line to london fully underground all the way into the Thames Valley. Many estate agents appear to be selling it as such, and as a result housing prices reflect this.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/reading-named-the-best-place-for-first-time-buyers-in-the-uk-2019-89xtwqvlh

Hmm.
Not sure this is true for many from here in the first place.