Maidenhead & Windsor

Maidenhead Royal Borough residents are set for even better facilities in Maidenhead town centre if cabinet gives the go ahead for improvement to the register office and further work on the Desborough Suite.

A report to next week's cabinet meeting (July 27) recommends that:

* the registrars' suite should be refurbished
* a second phase of improvements should go ahead in the Desborough Suite and
* the Desborough garden area in Park Street should re-landscaped.

The proposals are part of Maidenhead council's continuing programme to upgrade facilities that are heavily used by the public and are an integral part of the town centre environment.

Cllr Vicky Howes, lead member for Maidenhead property, said she was delighted that the council's residents and customers would once again benefit from better facilities.

She said: "The Desborough Suite and the register office are well used by local people and while we have already carried out improvements to the performance hall, we need to upgrade the register office to make it a light, spacious and welcoming place for our residents, who come to the office at significant times in their lives.

"Once again we have consulted the users of the Desborough Suite to make sure their needs are taken into account in the second phase of the refurbishment and, if cabinet agrees, we would aim to have the work finished in plenty of time for the start of the autumn season"

Front-of-house improvements were completed last autumn and the phase 2 contract will concentrate on backstage facilities and an electrical upgrade.

The Maidenhead registrars' suite will be extended and redecorated to make the area more comfortable and inviting for both customers and staff, with the ceremony room getting a completely new look to make it more attractive for weddings, civil partnerships, baby-namings and citizenship events.

Work is scheduled to start in October and temporary arrangements will be put in place to ensure registrars' business can continue uninterrupted throughout the three-month contract and with the minimum inconvenience to customers. Superintendent registrar Clair Williams has been closely involved in planning the refurbishment and she and her staff will use two adjacent ground floor meeting rooms as their reception area and offices, while the first floor council chamber will be used for ceremonial occasions.

The proposed re-landscaping of the garden area in Park Street will create a more attractive entrance to the registrars' suite – particularly for wedding and civil partnership photographs. It will also contribute to the improvement of the town centre as a whole.

The scheme will remove the raised lawn and flowerbed and 'open out' the garden. It will also allow the Bridge that Gap community café to develop a continental-style pavement café with tables and chairs in the garden during the summer.

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead