The Existing Situation

At present these pleasant, green, open spaces adjacent to Tilehurst Library, Clinic and Police Station cannot be fully enjoyed for three main reasons:

• The spaces do not feel safe, because there are no barriers, physical or visual, between the lawns and the very busy adjacent roads. Fences channel pedestrians straight from the Library to the pavement of the main road, and deny opportunities to walk straight from the building into its grounds.
• The area is divided up by fences and hedges, so people are discouraged from walking into or through the open spaces. Direct pedestrian access between the library and the kerbside parking in Corwen Road is prevented by two hedges and a fence.
• The spaces do not feel welcoming, because there are no paths or seats to make people feel they are allowed to go in and enjoy the place. A blank wall and thorn hedges make the Library appear unwelcoming from the Corwen Road approach. The only seat has no shade or shelter, is located very close to the main road junction, and has its back to the gren open space.

A different but related issue concerns the trees that confer much of the attractive quality of the site. The majority of the trees on the site are of roughly the same age. At some time in the future these will all die off and have to be removed. This would leave an enormous visual gap in the landscape of Tilehurst, involving the more-or-less simultaneous loss of the shade trees from the site, which currently improve the air quality by absorbing pollutants, increasing humidity and reducing temperature.

The proposed Landscape Improvements

The landscape proposals aim to make the open spaces around Tilehurst Library, Clinic and Police Station more useful and attractive by:

• Removing existing thorn hedges, and moving fences, to combine three separate areas into one large one that links the three public buildings with eachother and with their outdoor spaces.
• Installing railings (minimum height 1 metre, with safety tops) so that the area is fenced off from the roads, and feels enclosed, unified and much safer. This physical separation from the roadside pavements and verges would create the feel of a small public park or garden.
• Constructing new main pathways (just over 1 metre wide) which lead off from the main pedestrian routes, and take theri users 'off the beaten track' for a gentle stroll araound the garden, and to seats - some in the shade of the existing trees and some in sun-traps. These would encourage the use of the site - by people of all ages - for passive recreation.

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