Reading Winter Wonderland runs 7 November to 3 January at Hills Meadow, with a bigger 560 sq m ice rink. Planning officers back it ahead of a 7 October vote.

Reading Winter Wonderland will open at Hills Meadow in Caversham on Saturday 7 November and run until Sunday 3 January, its organiser says. The ice rink is getting bigger this year, to 560 square metres of skating surface.

Councillors still have to give the event planning permission, as they do every year. Council planning officers have recommended approval, and the Planning Applications Committee decides on Wednesday 7 October (agenda).

What is coming

The organiser, Premier Winter Wonderland Events, lists these on its website:

  • a real ice rink, under cover, enlarged to 560 square metres
  • fairground rides, including a big wheel
  • Santa’s grotto
  • a German bar and festive food stalls
  • free entry, with rides and skating paid for separately

An unlimited ride wristband costs £24 and gives four hours of rides. Adding ice skating to the wristband costs £5 more. Rides can also be paid for individually with tokens. Skating and wristbands are booked through the organiser’s booking page.

The council’s planning report says the event will open to the public from 11am to 10pm, in line with its premises licence. The applicant has confirmed the application covers the Winter Wonderland only, from 7 November 2026 to 3 January 2027.

Why it needs planning permission at all

Land can be used temporarily for any purpose for up to 28 days a year without planning permission. The Winter Wonderland is open for eight weeks, twice that, before setting up and taking down are counted.

So the application, reference PL/26/1116, asks to use Hills Meadow car park from no earlier than 11 October 2026. Everything must be gone by 20 January 2027. The report recommends a condition that the use ends, and every structure is removed, by 11.59pm that day.

The report lists applications for the site for every season since 2021 to 2022. It says the event has run there successfully for the past five winters, and that the layout “is largely unchanged from previous years”.

What officers and residents said

The report says the event “has been well-managed over the years” and that no noise complaints were received last year. Generators and rides will be set up as they were last year.

Not everyone is enthusiastic. One objector argued that three months is too long to lose a public facility, and that the dates did not include setting up and dismantling.

The Caversham and District Residents’ Association said it “appreciates the popularity” of the event. Its concerns were:

  • damage to the grass strip, shrubs and trees beside the footpath to View Island, which it said heavy vehicles had harmed in past years
  • flooding, which “can happen quickly” on a site partly in Flood Zone 3
  • noise and traffic spoiling the riverside footpath

It asked for log barriers to be put back along the strip, as in earlier years. The council’s own tree officers also questioned a nearly two-year-old tree method statement, and an area for dodgems and caravans set within tree root zones.

The applicant’s answers, as the report sets them out:

  • fencing will protect the trees and the planted area, put up on weighted feet rather than dug posts
  • no tree pruning is expected
  • the footpath will not be blocked
  • if river levels rise in heavy rain, marshals will evacuate the site over the tannoy, sending visitors to the higher entrance

Officers say an updated management plan and flood statement will come before the meeting.

The conditions

Officers recommend granting permission subject to nine conditions. They include:

  • opening hours and an event management plan
  • external lighting and fencing
  • flood risk measures
  • music and other noise kept below background levels at the front of any home
  • the generator set-up specified in the noise assessment

That noise condition is stricter than the event’s premises licence, which allows up to 63 decibels at the nearest homes. Residents of Kingfisher Place and Cardinal Close must also be given a direct contact for the event’s licence holder.

What it means for you

If you park at Hills Meadow, expect the event to take over part of the car park from mid October. The report says 298 pay and display spaces sit next to the site. It describes the site as about five minutes’ walk from Reading station.

If you plan to go, entry is free and the event opens on 7 November. The organiser says the grotto is its most popular attraction and “always a sell out”, so book early if that is the plan.

If you walk the riverside path to View Island, the applicant says it will stay open throughout.

For everything else on over the festive season, see our guides to the Reading Christmas market and the Christmas lights switch-on.

Sources