The team behind the council’s town centre regeneration faced an onslaught of questions from councillors after it was revealed that the project cost the council more than £117m.


The figures included costings for the regenerated corner of Rose Street, Broad Street, Peach Place and the multi-storey car park, but not Market Place which is a highways regeneration project.


Bernie Pich, director of regeneration at Wokingham Borough Council (WBC), told councillors at a meeting on Tuesday January 14 that despite retail outlook nationally being a cause for concern, the new town centre meant Wokingham “is very well placed”.


He continued: “There are two very high quality retailers here already (GAIL’s Bakery and Waterstones).We want a different mix with national and local shops. There will be 2 or 3 other national names and further names will be released this month.”


Mr Pich also said that documents are being prepared to fill 11 of the 18 new retail units, but he added that “the process is a bit slower than we had hoped”.


A report produced also highlighted that in addition to the £117.6m cost, the council will have to pay another £17.5m in interest up to 2025.


The figures show the council will be left with a “completed scheme debt” of £49m, which could lead to almost £100m of assets being sold on the open market “as an investment.”


WBC expects to see a further £2.8m come in annually from rent in the coming years but the report notes that the authority has had to offer ‘set up incentives’ to incoming businesses, such as rent-free periods, in order to help them ‘establish an initial customer base’.
Liberal Democrats councillor Clive Jones questioned the regeneration team about these rent-free periods, and Mr Pich responded: “Of course we do deals - they are called incentives”.


Later in the meeting, Mr Pich said that rent-free periods could vary for new shops in the town centre.


He added: “One may have a three month rent free period and one may have a 12 month period. The rents may come in at different times.”


Labour councillor Rachel Burgess said that some people were finding GAIL’s Bakery to be too expensive, and asked the regeneration team what provisions were being made to so “people on lower incomes can enjoy the town centre”.


Cllr Philip Mirfin, the executive member for regeneration at WBC replied: “We are creating a quality prestige development. We are trying to have a balance. The build of these units will benefit our population - that is what we are aiming for.”


Cllr Mirfin also spoke about why he believed it was important for the residential properties at Peach Place to be allocated exclusively for key workers.


He said: “One of the wishes with this is that we keep these as key worker properties. We want younger doctors to come to this area. Surgeries are not getting the staff in that they want.

"Nurses and care home workers are needed, as we know from Optalis (the council's social care provider)”.

After the meeting, Cllr Burgess told the News: "Peach place has already missed its November 2018 deadline. Residents will remember the continuous over-optimism on the completion date for the market place works, and they may have little confidence that these units will be ready by January/February as planned.

"Peach Place was described by Cllr Mirfin as a “prestige” development. While this will undoubtedly please our wealthier residents, not everyone can afford to eat cake in Gail’s Bakery.

"All our residents deserve to enjoy our regenerated town centre – we need an appropriate mix of different outlets to achieve this. If demolishing Applebys and replacing it with an upmarket bakery is anything to go by, it seems that those on lower incomes may have to go elsewhere, or simply stay at home."

The figures were discussed by the council’s community and corporate overview and scrutiny meeting on Monday, January 14.