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Maidenhead: A destination for investment
During March, we’ve been taking a focus in the Resident Newsletter on our work with partners to drive inclusive and sustainable investment, growth, and regeneration, for the benefit of our communities. We finish off this week, with town manager Robyn Bunyan looking at investment in Maidenhead town centre.
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What investments is Maidenhead seeing?
The ongoing regeneration of our town has already given us a delicious offering of restaurants and bars, updated leisure facilities, homes (including affordable options), shops, office spaces, public realm and loads of job prospects.
Excitingly, as we head further into 2023, we are welcoming more businesses to the town and watching on as hoardings come down.
Benefiting from the great connectivity of the Elizabeth Line, Maidenhead is also a hive of creativity and community.
Watch our video for more information on Maidenhead’s regeneration schemes to see what the investments are delivering.
What’s great about investment for the Maidenhead community?
Redevelopment and change will always come with some disruption – Maidenhead is not alone in that. Nor is it alone in needing to constantly evolve to meet new challenges and opportunities.
The positive investment in our community is exciting and plans meet the needs of our ever-changing, growing community.
What is important, is to look ahead to what is just over the horizon. And step back and see just how far we have come!
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Library Square with its water fountains – most enjoyed by families, children and young people during the heatwave last summer!
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Waterside Quarter – full of public art, bars, restaurants and cafes – a place to enjoy with friends, in the community
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Watermark on St Ives Road – home to Masters, Anytime Fitness, Knead Pizza and A Hoppy Place – an area to enhance and improve our evening and night-time economy
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How can people get involved in shaping the future of Maidenhead town centre?
This week we've launched a six-week sign-up period inviting expressions of interest to join the Maidenhead Town Team, which will be made up of a number of action groups.
These groups will be made up of representatives from the public, private, not-for-profit and community sectors, helping to shape a vision, and guiding community aspirations, for the future of Maidenhead town centre. They will lead on activities and projects which will benefit the users of the town and enhance its vitality and attractiveness.
So – if you have spotted an area which is crying out for a community garden or think we could do with more events in our open spaces. Maybe you want to champion sustainability in our town centre and be more involved in projects and activities in your community – then the Town Team is for you!
You have until Thursday 27 April to let us know if you’d be interested in joining. To sign up, please email me at maidenhead.tm@rbwm.gov.uk. Expressions of interest are welcome from those who are part of the Maidenhead community, whether you live, work or are involved in any organisations or community groups within the town.
Following the closing date, we will be holding a forum to bring together everyone who has shown an interest in joining to take part in a workshop and find out more. We’re looking to appoint the various action groups at the start of summer. For more details, read our press release.
What sort of activities can we look forward to in Maidenhead this year?
There is always something to enjoy in Maidenhead. Just around the corner, we have the Vegan Fiesta Market, the Waterways Fun Day, Maidenhead United’s Family Fun Day and Maidenhead Festival.
As well as our large community events and celebrations, we also have our weekly produce market with fresh fruit and veg, and hot lunch options plus regular crafts and pop-up events.
Like and follow @MakeMaidenhead on Facebook and Instagram to keep up to date with what's happening when (or to get your event promoted!)
It is important to look ahead to what is just over the horizon. Until we get over the horizon – please shop local where you can – support our wonderful businesses so we can all enjoy the next stage of our redevelopment together!
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Choosing to invest in Maidenhead
HUB is developing the One Maidenhead regeneration scheme, formerly known as The Landing, close to the railway station. Hub’s Managing Director, Damien Sharkey, explains why businesses are choosing to invest in Maidenhead and how the scheme is benefitting the area.
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Who are you?
Damien Sharkey, Managing Director at HUB
What is your investment?
One Maidenhead (formerly The Landing) is a town centre development project which we’re delivering in partnership with Smedvig and Get Living to provide 429 homes to rent, 36,000 square ft. of ground floor shops and restaurants and, at its heart, a new landscaped public square.
Why have you chosen Maidenhead as a location to invest?
Maidenhead is a thriving location within easy access to London, especially with the new Elizabeth Line, making it attractive to investors. We can offer more affordable homes than central London, and its proximity to the city and improved infrastructure make it a very appealing place to invest.
What benefits will your investment bring to your business and the community?
Together with our funding partners, we believe that bringing high-quality rental homes to the centre of the town will help to reinvigorate the area and contribute significantly to the local economy. This model also helps drive additional social value through the delivery of public realm, art and other amenities.
One Maidenhead is HUB’s biggest regeneration project to date, we’re really proud of the design quality of the buildings and place, which we’re delivering on time and to budget with the help of contractors JJ Rhatigan.
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Maidenhead’s regeneration continues as construction begins on 434 new homes
Yesterday (Thursday 16 March), we joined Countryside Partnerships at a ground-breaking ceremony to mark the start of construction of our £150m and 434-home St Cloud Way regeneration scheme in Maidenhead town centre.
Councillor Andrew Johnson, the Council Leader, broke the first ground on the development, along with key representatives from Countryside, the Royal Borough and Abri, the housing provider managing the affordable housing on the development.
Councillor Johnson said: “This is a significant moment in our exciting regeneration of Maidenhead town centre, with this site delivering a mixture of new town centre homes, including 87 affordable homes, to help meet the needs of our community.
“With leisure facilities now provided at Braywick Leisure Centre, this transformative £150m investment, our largest partnership project with Countryside, is bringing a prime brownfield site back into use, delivering much-needed new homes, alongside wider community and infrastructure investment, that will boost the town centre and support further major investment.”
The development will generate over £1m of Section 106 contributions, which will fund wider community improvements, enhancements to local play spaces and transport and access improvements for pedestrians and cyclists.
Construction will directly support 213 jobs per month and is expected to complete in 2029. Countryside will target the local labour market and provide apprenticeships for those looking to become a qualified trade person.
To learn more, check out our ground-breaking video or read our St Cloud Way press release.
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Are you hosting an event for King Charles III’s Coronation?
More than 20 street parties celebrating His Majesty The King’s Coronation are set to take place in the Royal Borough over the extended Bank Holiday weekend in May – and we are keen to hear about other ways you are celebrating.
The Coronation will be on Saturday 6 May, and a special weekend of events will be held across the country marking this historic occasion, including the Coronation Big Lunch on the Sunday, the Coronation Concert at Windsor Castle, and the Big Help Out on the Monday.
The deadline has now passed for street parties and other events requiring road closures, however, there are lots of other ways you can mark the Coronation if you’re only now starting your Coronation planning – an informal ‘Street Meet’ held on private driveways and front gardens, a get-together for family and friends in the home or garden, a Coronation picnic in a local park for the Coronation Big Lunch, celebrating at a community venue, or decorating your home with bunting.
In addition, the Big Help Out, on Monday 8 May, encourages residents and community groups to organise and get involved in volunteering activities on the special Bank Holiday, to make a difference in their local areas.
If you are organising a volunteering activity for the Big Help Out, or another Coronation community event or activity, and would like help promoting this to the wider community, please get in touch and this can be featured in this Resident e-newsletter that goes to 22,000 local people each Friday. Email details to communications@rbwm.gov.uk.
You may be able to get funding towards your community event or Big Help Out activity from the National Lottery Awards for All scheme. Applications need to be made by Friday 24 March.
You can also add your Coronation celebration to the national Coronation Map. For materials to help you celebrate, including Coronation bunting templates, visit the Coronation website. To see the street parties and road closures in the borough, please visit the One Network website.
For information on other ways to celebrate the Coronation, visit our coronation webpage or read our coronation press release.
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Construction starts on the UK’s first LEGO themed holiday village in Windsor
Earlier this week, LEGOLAND® Windsor Resort started work on the UK’s first LEGO® Woodland themed holiday village.
Due to open in spring 2024, this £35m investment in extra visitor accommodation is a major boost for tourism in the Royal Borough, allowing families to stay longer locally and explore Windsor’s wider offer, in addition to creating over 60 jobs and apprenticeships.
The 10-acre site which is designed around the Resort’s woodland area and lake will also host nature trails complete with a variety of animals built out of LEGO® bricks, a family entertainment space, an on-site restaurant, brick building activities and story time areas.
Learn more by checking out this video or reading the Merlin Entertainment press release.
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Interim changes helping to steer bus companies on a smoother post-Covid journey to be continued for a year
Interim changes made last autumn to subsidised bus services in the borough, designed to support operators on a smoother post-Covid journey, will continue for an additional 12 months.
The changes to certain sections of some routes, to the timetables of some buses and the frequency of some routes, have been in place since October and affect services provided by Thames Valley Buses, White Bus and Bear Buses.
These were initially funded for six months; however, we have since secured extra targeted funding for bus services meaning that from 1 April these changes will be extended for 12 months. This gives us more time to work with operators and communities to establish a longer-term solution for the bus network from April 2024 that reflects changing traveller habits, with the aim of keeping residents connected in a cost-effective manner.
For full details, visit our bus changes webpage or read our bus service press release.
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Last chance to complete our survey to guide priorities for four extra police officers dedicated to Royal Borough
Thank you to everyone who has taken part in our survey to help shape the priorities for four extra police officers who will be dedicated to tackling crime and anti-social behaviour in the Royal Borough.
If you have not completed it yet, you have until next week (Monday 20 March) to do so.
We are investing in four additional warranted police officers for the Royal Borough, over and above the existing police establishment for the area, to support community safety and enhanced local partnership working between us and the police.
To take part in the survey, which launched on Friday 3 March, please visit the RBWM Together website.
Learn more in our police priorities press release.
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Reminder: Help shape our new Local Transport Plan
You have until next week (Wednesday 22 March) to respond to our Local Transport Plan if you haven’t taken part already.
The plan will be an overarching document covering all forms of transport and pulling together the progress made in recent years as well as building on recently adopted new strategies, including the cycling and walking infrastructure plan.
Based on your feedback, further work will be undertaken to develop a long list of ideas and options for what could be achieved in the proposed plan period, from 2024 to 2039.
You can share your views on the RBWM Together website and read our Local Transport Plan press release to learn more.
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Last chance to have your say on planned A308 junction upgrades
You have until next week (Wednesday 22 March) to have your say on plans to improve safety at the A308 mini roundabout junction with Holyport road.
All feedback will be considered as part of finalising the design, and before any decisions are made. If the development is supported, work is anticipated to start this summer.
Make sure to have your say on the RBWM Together website. You can also learn more by reading our A308 junction upgrades press release.
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Small Windsor Leisure Centre car park has re-opened
The small Windsor Leisure Centre car park, on the corner of Stovell Road, has now reopened.
The car park had been temporarily closed this past week because of work being undertaken to make walking and cycling improvements in Stovell Road and Barry Avenue. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
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What matters most to you in local health and care?
Independent health and social care consumer organisation, Healthwatch Windsor Ascot and Maidenhead (WAM) is running its annual survey to help it decide which areas it should focus on during the coming year.
Healthwatch WAM’s survey lists topics the public has raised with it during the past year. The aim of the survey is to help pinpoint which are the most important and why.
The anonymous online survey, which runs until Sunday 30 April, will use public feedback about local health and care to inform conversations with those organisations that commission or run these services to influence change.
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Royal Borough Community Spotlight
Here are just some of the upcoming community events in the Royal Borough:
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Shakespeare’s First Folio of 1623 (Monday 20 March, 11.30am) – Baylis Theatre, Braywick Leisure Centre. Join the Arts Society Maidenhead to learn how one of the most important books in the English language was created by Shakespeare's friends and fellow actors seven years after his death. Entrance is £10 for non-members (free with advert from the Maidenhead Advertiser Thursday 5 January). To learn more, email membershipmaidenhead@theartssociety.org
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Men’s Matters health and wellbeing fayre (Wednesday 22 March, 1.30pm to 4.30pm) – Maidenhead Library. A health and wellbeing fayre for older men and the women who support them. The event will include health and wellbeing support, safety advice, exercise workshops, learning opportunities and more
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Postcards from Far and Near – Picturing the 20th Century (Wednesday 22 March, 1.30pm) – Old Windsor Memorial Hall. A lecture presented by Chloe Sayer. Guests are welcome, £7 entrance fee. Visit the Windsor Arts Society website to learn more
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Sunningdale Quiz Night (Friday 24 March, 7pm to 10.30pm) – Sunningdale Holy Trinity church 1st Sunningdale Scouts are hosting their regular Quiz Night in aid of raising funds to build a new scout hut. The event is always great fun and well attended. They offer tables for teams of eight, with a meal included in the ticket price of £15 per person. To secure your table please contact quiz_night@sunningdalescouts.onmicrosoft.com
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Walk the Stations of the Cross (Friday 7 April, 11.30am) – St John the Baptist Church, Cookham Dean. Nine local artists have been asked to paint an Easter ‘Stations of the Cross’ picture for this traditional walk which goes through the village finishing at Holy Trinity Church, Cookham. Everyone, with their children and dogs, are welcome to join or leave whenever they like, and the walk will finish at about 1.30pm. There may well be coffee and a bun at the end of the walk
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Thames Hospice Jazz Fundraiser (Friday 28 April, 7.30pm to 10pm) – The Old Court, Windsor. A Jazz Quartet from the Syd Lawrence Orchestra, performing music from the Great American Songbook, and Jazz standards in aid of the Thames Hospice. Learn more and book tickets on the Old Court website
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Running for absolute beginners (7pm every Monday from 15 May to 3 July) – Home Park, Windsor. Local women-only running group, Windsor Running Sisters, are holding their popular annual beginners’ course to take you from couch to 5K. You'll be supported and encouraged at every step by their women members, including graduates of the course! More information is available on the Running Sisters website
If you have an upcoming not-for-profit community event or activity you’d like to promote in this newsletter, simply send basic information about your event to communications@rbm.gov.uk and it could be shared with more than 21,000 local residents.
You just need to include a brief description, when and where it takes place, and a link to a website/social media page/contact where people can find out more.
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Have your say
We regularly hold consultations and surveys to get your views on proposals within the Royal Borough.
Participating, sharing ideas, and giving your feedback is the best way to ensure your views are heard.
Our current consultations are:
Other local consultations
Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service (RBFRS) are running a consultation on their Corporate Plan and Community Risk Management Plan feedback which closes on Monday 27 March.
Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust is also asking for views on options for a redeveloped or relocated Royal Berkshire Hospital. Take part in their online survey or visit the Building Berkshire Together website to learn more.
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Local Travel Updates
Rail services from South Western Railway (SWR) will be impacted by strike action from the RMT union from 7am to 6.30pm tomorrow (Saturday 18 March). Visit the SWR website to learn more.
For details of council works on highways, visit our website. For full local roadwork details, including work by utility firms, please visit the One Network website.
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