Whilst the Foundation understands how frustrating it has been to not have the enclosed dog walking area the Foundation’s public statements have been consistent and the public are being misinformed by Thatcham Town Council . The offer of an interim facility was made by Thatcham Town Council and not the Foundation.
Referring to the plan.
The area outlined in Blue is the remaining unaffected are of the playing fields and Trustees have resolved that there will be no facility built on this land.
The area outlined in red is the flood alleviation scheme and the Foundation has stated publicly that when works were completed it would review the suitability of placing a facility here. However, the future ownership of this land is subject to ongoing commercially sensitive negotiations, and I cannot comment any further.
The area outlined in yellow is land formerly occupied by Thatcham Town Cricket Club but will be bisected by the swale, resulting in a piece of land that is unusable by the Club. The independent group Thatcham Flood Forum and Surface Water Management Plan Delivery Group. Have previously recommended this area for a dog walking facility. Whilst this is currently owned by Thatcham Town Council, they too are undergoing commercially sensitive negotiations about future ownership which we are not party to.
The Foundation met with representatives of WBC and the engineers for the scheme recently to cement plans for the reinstatement of the playing fields including designs of footpaths, landscaping and tangible assets. During this meeting it was noted that the use of the land outlined in red and yellow would be the decision of the landowner when the matter had been settled.
Reinstatement designs are subject to a planning condition and any member of the public can view these plans and comment via the planning portal.