in the war. Denton's Field gained reputation as a location for outdoor community events, and was comparable to places such as Caversham Park and Palmer Park. In the 1950s, a huge building project centred around Coronation Square (named for the 1953 Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II) with hundreds of council houses built to satisfy post-war demand. The residents of many of these had moved from houses in central and east Reading that fell short of sanitation requirements of the Public Health Act 1875, were compulsorily purchased and later demolished. The gatehouse at Southcote Manor stood until the 1960s, when a fire broke out. It was demolished by 1964 to make way for housing. Reading Central Goods station was closed in 1983, and with it the branch line from Southcote ceased to operate. Two years later the track bed and sleepers were removed. The same decade a campaign was started to raise £1 million to save the decaying mansion in Prospect Park; in 1986 the building was described as "crumbling" and "likely to be demolished", though plans existed to convert the building into offices. In the 1990s, however, the building was renovated and re-opened as a restaurant. In 2004, Presentation College went into administration. It was taken over by the Society of Licensed Victuallers and renamed The Elvian School. The school closed in 2010. Following its closure, Taylor Wimpey applied to build 193 new homes on the site, competing with a proposal by a community group (the West Reading Education Network) to reopen the site as a free school known as the WREN. The housing plan was rejected, but Taylor Wimpey then appealed to Reading Borough Council and submitted a revised plan for 120 homes, which left room for the school. The appeal was taken to the High Court, which ruled that the site should be used solely for education; the school opened for Year Seven pupils on 7 September 2015. Government Local elections Southcote forms an electoral ward of the Reading West constituency, and has three seats on Reading Borough Council. It is seen as a safe seat for the Labour Party; the Conservative Party last won a council seat in Southcote in 1987. The current three councillors are Debs Edwards, John Ennis and Matt Lawrence. The most recent election was held in 2016, which saw Edwards re-elected. The ward has seen three by-elections: in 2006, in 2014 when Lawrence