READING PRISON EXCLUSIVE – PART 2

REVEALED: Banksy’s mural and dead bodies are among the pitfalls for Gaol redevelopment

The redevelopment of Reading prison faces a number of significant challenges as its owner prepares to enter the next crucial stage of the project.

The Reading Reporter has exclusively revealed that the redevelopment is back on following a long period of uncertainty. The prison’s owner, Channing Bi, recently presented a new “vision” for the site to leaders and key officers at Reading Borough Council.

The silence is over and talks have finally reopened. But there is considerable skepticism among some local stakeholders about how meaningful those talks can be until Bi appoints a new architect.

There are a multitude of pitfalls lying ahead at what is both a historic and highly complex site.

Those include the unlocated body of a dead king, Oscar Wilde’s former cell, the Banksy mural paying tribute to Wilde – and the perils of the planning system.

Solutions are possible, but they are likely to require lengthy negotiations involving consultants, lawyers and several layers of bureaucracy. That won’t come cheap.

But the potential reward is great.

“The prison could be hugely significant to Reading,” said Tony Page, the former Mayor of Reading who has inside knowledge of the redevelopment, having worked for Bi on the project until recently.

“It has something that very few other towns and cities can offer, given all the historic associations, and the potential for marketing.

“It could play such a huge part: the final element of regeneration in the town centre, that missing link.

“As I said to Mr Bi on a number of occasions, you’ve got something here that with all those elements could prove very attractive on the tourist trail, not only nationally but internationally.”