Cycling access and al fresco space planned for town centre
Maidenhead: Forum discuss ways to make the town centre more bike friendly
Changes to town centre street furniture to make room for cyclists and pubs or cafés that need more outdoor space were discussed at a Maidenhead Town Forum meeting on Tuesday.
In the meeting, head of communities and highways David Scott outlined how the Royal Borough intends to use its £140,000 slice of a £45million Government funding initiative to encourage more cycling.
High on the Royal Borough’s agenda is the removal of certain street furniture and planters to create additional space for cycling.
It also intends to increase the provision of cycle parking on Queen Street, Broadway, King Street, High Street and Market Street.
The council plans to bid for more funding on August 7, when the Government is offering a further £180million to local authorities for cycling initiatives.
If the bid is successful, the Royal Borough will accelerate its cycling action plan, which
includes constructing a network of cycle routes connecting residential areas to destinations across the borough, such as shops, offices and schools.
Another change to the landscape of the town may come in the form of making more space for pubs to spread out further onto the street.
Mr Scott said that this would be decided on a caseby-case basis, depending on the size of the establishment.
One problem is that in some instances, outdoor spaces adjacent to pubs overlap with Public Space Protection Orders, which prohibit the consumption of alcohol in that area.
However, due to COVID-19 social distancing requirements, the ability to use more outdoor space would be a ‘lifeline’ for some businesses, said Cllr Simon Bond (Lib Dem, Belmont).
Making more space may also involve removing some street furniture, such as benches. Cllr Helen Taylor (TBF, Oldfield) recommended relocating, rather than removing these.
“People with disabilities and breathing problems use those benches to take a break,” she said.