Welcome to Friends of Christchurch Green

Who are we?

Friends of Christchurch Green (FoCG) is a group of neighbours who live in and around the Christchurch Green area of Reading. Many local residents have called this area home for years – often decades. With the town centre and the Royal Berkshire Hospital close by, Christchurch Green is a much-loved and well-used part of the community.

Friends of Christchurch Green was formed in early 2020, when seven very local residents came together following another Reading Borough Council planning application meeting affecting the area. The aim was simple: to give local people a collective voice and to work positively to protect, enhance and improve Christchurch Green and its surroundings.

Our aims and objectives

Our work is guided by the following aims:

• To encourage collaboration with interested parties and stakeholders

• To preserve and enhance Christchurch Green and its surrounding area

• To strengthen the sense of community and belonging

• To help make Christchurch Green an area that the community can be proud of

• To seek suitable funding opportunities that enable improvements for the benefit of the area

The group has continued to evolve and meet on a bi-monthly basis, alongside local Councillors and representatives from the University of Reading.  We discuss and progress identified issues and improvements for the area. There have been positive changes to the area, and the group continually strives to keep the area somewhere that residents and visitors can enjoy and feel safe in.

You are warmly invited to join our future dialogue and development.

What we’ve been working on

To date, our work and ideas include:

• Website (this Blog) – fairly basic (yes!), but tells people what we are about and how to contact us.

• Heating shop: Christchurch Road (and adjacent area of land) - discouraging unsightly rubbish tipping. 
• University and Councillors engagement: Regular communication with the University Community Engagement Manager regarding improvements to the Green. Whilst local councillors and the local MP have given their support to our aims and objectives and some of the activities we have undertaken to date, the Friends take no part in Party Politics. 
• Heritage Board: The funding, design and erection of a Heritage Board on Christchurch Green, linking the University with the Community. History of Whiteknights campus and the local area, bringing a sense of belonging to the area for new residents and new students. 
• Conservation:  Receiving regular feedback from the Conservation Committee (CAAC) on areas of special interest. 
• Social activities:  Arranging social gatherings – the chance to meet neighbours and make new friends. 
• Litter bins: Planning for more litter bins, perhaps sponsored by the University (consolidating the University and the community) along the kerbside to prevent cars mounting the pavement.
• Information sharing:  Through regular meetings, sharing information that is relevant and applicable with a mailing list.A website – simple but informative, explaining who we are and how to get in touch.
• Setting up a bank account:  There isn’t a cost to joining the group, but there are incidental costs to what we do, such as printing this letter.  A voluntary contribution of £5.00 to the account will ensure that no individual is out of pocket as a result of our activities.  Our bank details are as follows:

Account Name: Friends of Christchurch Green 

Account Number: 51195089

Sort Code: 60-01-13

To make a donation, please use your surname as a reference so that we can accurately monitor payments and maintain a (confidential) record of all payments made.

 The group has also investigated and instigated: 

• Regular litter-picks in the vicinity. We continue to monitor and report on the littering. 
• Deliveries and parking bay (Christchurch Road shops) 
• Keeping Cintra Park a place that the whole community can enjoy and use
• The condition of Back Lane behind Christchurch Road shops 
• Monitoring of and suggested changes to cycle lanes, traffic calming measures
• Monitoring and responding to planning applications in the vicinity, both new and those in progress 

WE INVITE YOU TO BE A PART OF THIS - COME JOIN US! 

Many residents around the Green have lived in their homes for years - often over decades.  Newcomers to the area are impressed by the friendly community that welcomes them.  Although much has been done, there is still much to do. You may also have ideas and views that haven’t been covered in the above. 

If you are interested in joining the Friends of Christchurch Group, we would like to hear from you. We have a mailing list to keep you up-dated about the work we are doing and the issues that affect this area - your neighbourhood! 

If you would like to know more, receive updates about what we are doing, or be involved in the work of the group, please complete the contact form, and someone will be in touch.

Litter pick - Wednesday 26th March 2025, 1-3pm - please join us!

Some of the volunteers at a previous litter pick

Local volunteers are needed to help with a litter pick in the Christchurch area on Wednesday 26th March 2025 - 1pm-3pm.

Our previous litter picks have always been very successful, with around 10/12 volunteers. 

On this occasion we will be working collaboratively with the University of Reading who are also recruiting volunteers, so that between us we should have an excellent turn out.

The area covered will include  Shinfield Rd (to Pepper Lane), Christchurch Road (to Warwick Road), Cintra Avenue & Warwick Road, Cintra Close, Whitley Park Lane, top of Upper Redlands, Upper Redlands and around New Road, Elmhurst and Marlborough Avenue, Upper and Lower Mount, Northcourt Avenue, Wellington Avenue.  

The pick up area will be adjusted according to the number of volunteers who turn up.

Volunteers will meet at 1pm on the corner of Northcourt Avenue outside Greggs.

The plan is to collect litter for 1-1 1/2 hours - the more participants we have, the less time it will take. 

Litter bags, litter pickers, gloves and hi-viz vests will be supplied as well as hand sanitizer. If you have and are happy to use your own equipment, please feel free to bring that along. 

Any rubbish collected will be placed into existing street litter bins or left in tied bags next to bins. If volunteers have any space in their own wheelie bins, it would be helpful if some litter could be taken away and disposed of in this way.  Any glass collected will be deposited in the recycling banks in Pepper Lane. 

Once the litter pick is completed, volunteers are invited to get together for refreshments (hot drinks, snacks, lunch) in the Happy Panda Cafe, so please bring some money with you.  This is always a chance to meet and get to know your local neighbours.

Simone Illger will be co-ordinating activities on the day, and will stay stationed at the corner by Greggs during the litter pick to assist with queries. 

If you are interested in helping with this initiative, please could you reply to this email address by Sunday 23rd March, to get an idea of numbers and can plan accordingly.  It will also allow us to alert you if the event is cancelled on the day due to bad weather.

We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible on the 23rd.

Heritage Board installed on Christchurch Green

The Friends of Christchurch Green are delighted to announce the arrival of a Heritage Board to celebrate the history of this vibrant part of Reading and are honoured that the Vice Chancellor of the University of Reading, Professor Robert Van de Noort CBE, will unveil the Board on Wednesday 21 February 2024 marking the close relationship between the University and the community.  The board is located at the junction of Shinfield Road, Christchurch Road and Redlands Road close to the main entrance of the University’s Whiteknights campus. 
 
Professor Robert Van de Noort, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Reading, said: “The University is proud to have played a part in welcoming this new heritage board to Christchurch Green. It serves as a fantastic reminder for all about our connection with the local community, both now and in the past.” 
 
The idea for this Heritage Board came from the artist Jenny Halstead, well known locally for the Whiteknights Studio Trail (now in its 24th year).
 
Jenny says :
 
“I wanted to celebrate this area – where 5 roads meet, linking the community to the University‘s beautiful Whiteknights campus. Even in an age of information, a permanent site offers an introduction to the area, and creates a sense of belonging to new students and new residents alike.
 
The Board welcomes people to Christchurch Green - (presently only recognised by named bus stops).
 
It gives a short history of the University and the area around which we live – biscuits, bulbs, beer and bricks with an image circa 1906 looking up Shinfield Road from the Green. I have chosen three individuals (selected from hundreds) who I think represent both University and community in their different walks of life and list the exciting places to visit, all free and within easy walking distance from the Board.
 
The back of the Board shows a map of the area in 1840, a rural landscape showing only Christchurch Road and Red Lane (now Redlands Road) before either Elmhurst, Marlborough or Northcourt Avenue were even built.
 
We are grateful to RGSpaces, a local charity and The University of Reading for funding, James Dibble from Equal Studio Ltd. for designing and producing the Board and Reading Borough Council staff involved in its installed.”
 
Annette Howarth, Chair of RGSpaces who offered half the sponsorship grant said:
 
“RG Spaces was delighted to be able to help the installation of this heritage board. Standing at the crossroads linking the University and the town, Christchurch Green is the perfect spot to help both students and residents learn more about some of their distinguished predecessors and their neighbourhood’s rich history.”
 
Dave McElroy, Redlands Green Party Councillor said:
 
“Great to see town and gown working together to celebrate our special part of Reading. Well done to Jenny and the team for getting this lovely landmark installed.”
 
Fiona Talkington, local resident and BBC Radio 3 Presenter, grew up around Christchurch Green and says:
 
“I crossed over the Green to get to school, I had my first job in the shops at the Green and   during lockdown I presented my radio shows from home close to the Green. It’s a place held in great affection by many.”
 
Robert Cox is another local resident who grew up close to the Green. He’s seen many changes, but, he says:  “The Green is still recognisable and, for me, reaching it after a journey it means ‘you’re nearly home now’”.

Who are we?

The Friends of Christchurch Green (FoCG) are a group of neighbours living near to the Christchurch Green area of Reading. This area has been home to many local residents for years – often decades. In close proximity to the town centre, the Royal Berkshire Hospital and with much green space nearby, Christchurch Green is a perfect place to live.

Over the past 10 years or more, the increasing transient population of Reading has brought with it changes to Christchurch Green. The parade of shops which once contained a variety of shops and services has been gradually swamped with fast food outlets.

This has meant:

• increasing noise and disturbance from over-sized delivery HGV’s as well as vehicles/customers visiting fast food restaurants often at anti-social hours,

• increasing numbers of HMO’s both in the parade and adjacent to it, resulting in overflowing refuse bins becoming a permanent feature and blocking footpaths, inconsiderate and sometimes dangerous parking on footways.

Christchurch Green

The Friends of Christchurch Green care about this visible deterioration of the area, the area they live in.

This lovely area is being slowly devastated. The local character of Christchurch Green is fast changing, driven by the growing transient student population, former family homes being converted to HMO’s and landlords who have little or no interest in the detrimental effect on long term residents.

The Friends of Christchurch Green plan to work alongside interested and committed members of the local community who live and work in the area to explore ways to enhance and revitalise Christchurch Green and make it a place to be enjoyed by future generations of local communities.

Christchurch Parade

Our Aims & Objectives

• To enable collaboration with interested parties to preserve and enhance the area of Christchurch Green and environs

• To improve the sense of community and belonging

• To make Christchurch Green an area to be proud of

• To seek suitable funding opportunities to enable the Friends to carry out improvements for the benefit of the area

Our activities

You are invited to be a part of our future dialogue and development. 

Your involvement and contributions to the Friends regular bi-monthly meetings would be most welcomed. We have created a mailing list so that you can be kept fully updated with progress. Please use the contact form on this site to let us know if you would like to be added to the mailing list.

To date, ideas and progress have included: 

• Website/Blog – fairly basic, but tells people what we are about and how to contact us.
  
  
• Heating shop, Christchurch Road (and adjacent area of land) - discouraging unsightly rubbish tipping.
  
  
• University and Councillors engagement: Regular communication with the University Community Engagement Manager regarding improvements to the Green. Whilst local councillors and the local MP have given their support to our aims and objectives and some of the activities we have undertaken to-date, the Friends shall take no part in Party Politics.
  
  
• Heritage Board: The funding, design and erection of a Heritage Board on Christchurch Green, linking the University with the Community. History of Whiteknights campus and the local area, bringing a point of belonging to the area for new residents and new students.
   
• Conservation:  Receiving regular feed-back from the Conservation Committee (CAAC) on areas of special interest. 
  
  
• Social activities:  Arranging an annual social picnic – the chance to meet neighbours. 
  
  
• Litter bins: Planning for more litter bins, perhaps sponsored by the University (consolidating the University and the community) along the kerbside to prevent cars mounting the pavement.
  
  
• Information sharing:  Through regular meetings, sharing information that is relevant and applicable with a mailing list.
  
  
• Setting up a bank account:  There isn’t a cost to joining the group, but there are incidental costs to what we do, such as printing this letter.  A voluntary contribution of £5.00 to the account will ensure that no individual is out-of-pocket through our activities.

• Receiving regular feed-back from the Conservation Committee (CAAC) on areas of special interest. 

Also investigated and instigated: 

• Regular litter-picks in the vicinity. We continually monitor and report littering and fly-tipping
  
  
• Deliveries and parking bay (Christchurch Road shops) 

• Keeping Cintra Park a place that the whole community can enjoy and use safely

• Back Lane behind Christchurch Lane shops 
  
  
• Monitoring of and any suggested changes to cycle lanes, traffic calming measures, road layouts
  
  
• Monitoring and responding to planning applications in the vicinity, both new and those in progress. Making representation when required

Litter pick - Saturday 30th September 2023

Many thanks to everyone who turned up this morning for a very successful litter pick. 

There were 20 of us in total, picking for about an hour and then most stayed for refreshments and a chat at the Kung Fu Kitchen afterwards.

Northcourt Avenue seemed to win in terms of the quantity of litter, especially at the Christchurch Road end!  Unsure of whether that's as a result of students returning, or just because we've not collected for a few months.

Thank you to those folk who took away bags of rubbish to get rid of in their own household waste bins.

Next Litter Collection - Saturday 30th September 2023

We are looking for volunteers to help with a litter pick in the Christchurch area on Saturday 30th September. Our previous litter pick in March was very successful, with around 17 volunteers.  We hope that by organising this for a weekend, others unable to make weekdays can be involved.  

The area covered will include:  Shinfield Rd (to Pepper Lane), Christchurch Road (to Warwick Road), Cintra Avenue and Warwick Road, Cintra Close, Whitley Park Lane, top of Upper Redlands, Upper Redlands and around New Road, Elmhurst and Marlborough Avenues, Upper and Lower Mount, Northcourt Avenue, Wellington Avenue.

The pick up area will be adjusted according to the number of volunteers who turn up! 

Volunteers to meet at 11am on the corner outside Greggs. The plan is to collect litter for 1 - 1.5  hours - the more participants we have, the less time it will take.  

Litter bags and litter pickers, gloves and hi-viz vests, and hand sanitiser will be supplied. If you have and are happy to use your own equipment, please feel free to bring that along.  

Any rubbish collected will be placed into existing street litter bins or left in tied bags next to bins. If volunteers have any space in their own wheelie bins, it would be helpful if some litter could be taken away and disposed of in this way - especially items that can be recycled.  

Any glass collected will be kept separate and deposited in the recycling banks in Pepper Lane. 
Once the litter pick is completed, volunteers are invited to get together for refreshments (hot drinks, snacks, lunch) in the Kung Fu Kitchen, so please bring cash or card with you. 

I will be co-ordinating activities on the day, and will stay stationed at the corner by Greggs during the litter pick to assist with queries.  For those who haven't yet met me, I use an electric wheelchair, so am easy to spot.
If you are interested in helping with this initiative, please could you reply to me by Wednesday 25th September, so I have an idea of numbers and can plan accordingly.  

If the weather is against us, I'll send an email around early on the 30th to let you know whether or not it is planned to go ahead.   

I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible on the 30th.  

What area does the Friends of Christchurch Green cover?

This map provides a rough guide to the area which is involved as "Friends of Christchurch Green", however, we welcome residents from other areas who have an affinity with our aims and objectives.

Open Gardens Event - Sunday 25th June 2023

Open Gardens - Sunday 25th June 2023
12 noon until 1800hrs

8 gardens, open for Charity. £5 entry (for all 8 gardens)

Gardens are large and small and full of surprises

Raising funds for the Royal Berkshire Charity, for research into Respiratory Medicine

Open 12 noon to 6pm

TEAS, CAKES & SAVOURY SNACKS available at 32 Shinfield Road (card payment welcome at this address)

1 ) 10 Addington Road, RG1 5JP (please note this garden will sadly no longer be open)
2 ) 37 Upper Redlands Road, RG1 5JE
3 ) 21 New Road, RG1 5JD
4 ) Community Garden, FREE. The Mount RG1 5HL
5 ) 85 Christchurch Road, RG2 7BD
6 ) 20 Cintra Close RG2 7AL
7 ) 23 Northcourt Avenue, RG2 7HE
8 ) 89 Northcourt Avenue, RG2 7HG
9 ) 28 Shinfield Road, RG2 7BW
10 ) TEAS - 32 Shinfield Road, RG2 7BW

Plants for sale at venues 2, 7 & 8

Toilets available at venues 6, 7, 8 & 10

ACCESS: Note, some gardens have steps and some have gravel

PARKING: University Car Parks - free on Sunday & in Northcourt Avenue

Two singers from Leighton Park School will be visiting venue 10 - 32 Shinfield Road, between 12.30 and 1pm, followed by the High Voltage Choir performing from 1.45-3pm. The Mayor will be touring the gardens at 12.30pm starting at venue 10 then onto 9, 5, 3 & 2.

Litter collection - 9th March 2023

Friends of Christchurch Green organise regular litter picks in the area.  With equipment supplied by Reading Adopt Your Street (RAYS) - grabbers, high-vis vests, gloves and collection bags, the volunteers spend about an hour picking litter and then enjoy a social get-together and refreshments in the Kung Fu Kitchen.

Our local Councillors (Redlands & Church Wards) also regularly support these events.

Timings are usually 1100hrs - 1200hrs for the litter picking.

It's a great way to get to know your neighbours - and your area, a little better.

Contact us via the contact window on this page to let us know if you'd like to participate in the next one.

Litter collection on a rainy day - 9th March 2023

Christchurch Shops Parade

Christchurch Parade, circa. 1910

This is Christchurch Road on the corner with Northcourt Avenue.

The first shop in the row c1910 was Devonshire Dairies, next to a grocers, a confectioners and others. They were a national chain, and this was just one of their outlets.

Christchurch Green at risk of becoming 'devastated' by planning decisions

Christchurch Parade, January 2020

Northcourt Avenue Residents’ Association (NARA) chair Simone Illger told Reading Borough Council (RBC) that the Christchurch Green in Reading was being “devastated” by unsympathetic development, at the planning applications committee on 15 January. RBC nonetheless approved the change of use of the ground floor 60 Christchurch Road from a dry cleaners into a restaurant, saying that their own local plan didn’t allow them to choose otherwise.

The Christchurch shopping parade already includes Gregg’s bakers, the Kung Fu Kitchen, Domino’s Pizza and the Sizzling Spice restaurant. RBC gave permission for the conversion of the former bank at 76 Christchurch Road into a takeaway cafe and HMO in December; this means that, after the latest approval, six of the 13 shops in the parade will be selling food.

RBC had refused an application to change the use of 60 Christchurch Road to a food outlet in February 2019 because the local plan in effect at the time didn’t allow for it. The local plan adopted by the council in November 2019 now allows for such a change of use.

Christchurch Green.   Photo (c) Adam Harrington

Residents’ objections

“This local plan of November 2019 offers no protection to the continued destruction of Christchurch shopping parade and the surrounding neighbourhood,” Simone Illger told the council’s planning committee. “When this scheme was refused in February 2019, planning officers said it would not maintain the vitality and viability of this local centre and the loss of a shop unit would have a detrimental effect on the diversity of the area.”

“Changes made… to the local plan at the end of last year mean the scheme is now recommended without change for approval… Local residents are already suffering from noise and disturbance from oversized delivery HGVs as well as vehicles and customers visiting fast food restaurants at often antisocial hours.”

“There is no… legal delivery bay for vehicles to make drop-offs to shops and restaurants without bringing Christchurch Road to a standstill,” said Simone Illger. “This once lovely area is being devastated. The local character of Christchurch Green is fast changing, driven by the growing transient student population, former family homes being converted into HMOs, and landlords who have little or no interest in their detrimental effect on long-term residents.”

“Christchurch Green is looking increasingly neglected, especially in comparison to neighbouring conservation areas at the Mount and Redlands. This needs to be urgently addressed before things get to the point of becoming irreversible.”

Responses from councillors

Councillor Tony Page said that the council’s new local plan implemented national government policy on permitted development, and the consequences were not limited to Reading. He added that the council recognised changing retail practices in local centres, and that the Christchurch parade had always been “lively” with a long-standing student population and consequent complaints, especially about parking.

Councillor Josh Williams said that the national change that mandated alterations to the local plan which allowed this new development to happen didn’t “let the local plan off the hook.”

“If there was a test for the local plan that it should be clear, concise and easily understood by residents, then it probably fails in this area,” he said. “When we are next able to refresh our local plan, we could do more to make [it] deliver what residents want, and in an understandable way.”

“If I thought this could be refused, and that refusal would stand up on appeal, then I would recommend a refusal, but the officers have laid out the details of the planning law, and I can’t see a way through that.”

Councillor Karen Rowland agreed that they couldn’t refuse the application, adding that the change to the local plan was intended to revitalise local centres.

Councillors unanimously approved the decision to change the use of 60 Christchurch Road to a café or restaurant (A3 use), subject to discharging conditions on kitchen odours and the noise of development detailed in the planning officer’s report.