Happy New Year and thank you for your continued support for this petition. The planning application for the demolition and redevelopment of St Patrick's Hall was withdrawn in the Autumn, and the University have now provided the following update: "We are writing to invite you to view our latest proposals for the redevelopment of the University of Reading’s St Patrick’s Hall site at a public exhibition on Wednesday 11 January 2017 at 6pm-8.30pm in the Old Senior Common Room in The Shamrock Café, St Patrick’s Hall, University of Reading, RG2 7HB. Following a year-long engagement process on our initial plans to redevelop St Patrick’s Hall, we have now withdrawn our original application in light of the Council’s proposal to locally list Pearson’s Court. Our revised plans maintain the University’s objectives to respond to the growing demand for affordable, on-campus accommodation, whilst preserving the campus’ heritage. In response to feedback from across the community, we have made changes to our proposals which were last viewed at our public exhibition in October 2015. We believe that a thriving Reading and Thames Valley requires a thriving University and that the new and upgraded accommodation will enhance the University’s reputation, benefiting the local economy in the process. The revised plans will allow us to house the vast majority of first year students on campus, enabling us to offer better pastoral care and manage student behaviour. The development of further student accommodation close to the campus will also reduce car use, and provide students with the opportunity to walk and cycle to classes. This will also ease pressure on the city’s private rental sector, with areas local to the University feeling the impact the most. We will be welcoming local residents, Reading Borough Councillors and other members of the community to view the changes. Members of our project team will be on hand to answer any questions you may have. The consultation remains ongoing and we would like to thank everyone who has taken an interest in our plans." Throughout the process we have been clear that Pearson's Court should be retained, and it now appears the University and UUP have conceded to our way of thinking. Many other points of objection have been raised by current and former residents of the halls and the local residents most likely to be affected by the proposal, it will be interesting to see if these concerns have been resolved with the revised scheme. Please attend the public exhibition next Wednesday if you are able to, I have requested plans from the University to review their revised proposals, hopefully this will be available online in due course. The petition has now been closed (due to the time past from creation), however we will review whether it needs to be re-opened once the new plans are in the public domain. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or comments at stpatspetition@gmail.com Kind Regards