The reason behind the lack of a flag on Wokingham town hall to mark last week’s VE Day celebrations has been revealed.
Some attendees at last week’s celebrations in Market Place questioned why there was no flag flying from the grade-II listed town hall.
Katy Hughes, town clerk, explained that the access ladders to the flagpoles were condemned as being unsafe 18 months ago, and signs of corrosion were identified to the poles themselves.
As such, no flags had been flown from them since then.
The council has allocated money in this year’s budget to fund specialist support to scope out what is required to bring the flag poles back into use, whether a replacement or a repair to the existing flagpoles and their associated access.
Katy told Wokingham Today that the council is currently undertaking investigative work before it can make any decision on how to take this issue forward.
Indicative costs sourced to date suggest the project costs could exceed £70,000.
She added that the town hall will continue to fly the ceremonial flags around the building for key council events such as Mayor’s Sunday, heritage open day and remembrance.
Wokingham town council would welcome enquiries from any benefactors or businesses that would like to support the work needed to repair or replace the flagpoles.
