We're quite often asked for information concerning the population of Caversham - not least, how many people actually live here?

A good place to start is the Reading Council website, which gathers 2001 census data together on a ward-by-ward basis. There's a lot of interesting data if you live locally - it's well worth a look.

The four wards that comprise RG4 (the parts of Reading north of the River Thames) had populations back in 2001 as follows:

• Caversham Ward - 9,265
• Mapledurham Ward - 3,050
• Peppard Ward - 9,280
• Thames Ward - 9,370

This gives a total headcount for Caversham and Emmer Green of just under 31,000 people - although admittedly this figure is now nearly a decade old. This compares with a total Reading population of 143,100.

So what is the population of Caversham and RG4 at the time of writing (2009)? Again, data on the Reading Council website allows us to make a reasonable guess. Population projections for Reading as a whole show that the total population for the town is predicted to be about 147,772 people during 2009 - an increase of about 3.3% since 2001.

Applying the same rate of increase to RG4 shows that, as of now (April 2009) there are about 32,000 people living within Caversham and Emmer Green.