Tilehurst (Reading ward)


Tilehurst is an electoral ward of the Borough of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire. It forms part of the larger Reading suburb of Tilehurst, which also includes parts of other borough wards, together with the civil parish of Tilehurst Without that is outside the borough boundary in the district of West Berkshire.

Location

The ward lies on the western boundary of the Borough of Reading, adjacent to the district of West Berkshire. It includes the highest point of both the borough and the town, which lies at AMSL in the area surrounding the Tilehurst Water Tower.
From the south in clockwise order the ward is bounded by New Lane Hill, the Meadway, Halls Road, Pierce's Hill, Armour Road, Norcot Road, and Dee Road. Between Halls Road and Pierce's Hill the boundary follows the borough boundary, away from roads, but including a significant area of housing to the west of Park Lane and School Road. Between Norcot Road and Dee Road, the boundary follows the ridge line through Lousehill Copse. Again from Dee Road back to New Lane Hill the boundary eschews roads, but does include The Avenue and Churchend schools and St Michael's church within the ward.
The ward is bordered, in the same order as above, by the civil parish of Tilehurst Without, in West Berkshire, and the borough wards of Kentwood, Norcot and Southcote. It lies entirely within the constituency of Reading West and Mid [Berkshire (UK Parliament constituency)|Reading West and Mid Berkshire].

Profile

In the UK Census of 2021, Tilehurst ward had an area of and there were 9,870 people living there. Of these, 19.8% were under 15 and 18.9% were 65 and over; 81.3% classified themselves as White, 8.2% as Asian, and 5.0% as Black, Caribbean or African; 14.8% were born outside the UK. The population lived in approximately 3,900 households, of which 14.8% were in a flat, maisonette or apartment, and 85.2% were in a house or bungalow. Of the population aged over 16, 60.6% were in employment, 3.2% were unemployed, and 36.1% were economically inactive. Of those in employment, 44.6% were in managerial, professional or technical occupations.

Representation

As with all Reading wards, the ward elects three councillors to Reading Borough Council. Elections since 2004 are generally held by thirds, with elections in three years out of four, although the 2022 elections were for all councillors due to boundary changes. The ward councillors are currently James Moore, Meri O'Connell and Anne Thompson, all of whom are members of the Liberal Democrat party.