 Leisure centre at Carnival Hub now open
After 18 months of main construction works and many more years of preparation, we're delighted that our leisure centre at the multi-million pound Carnival Hub in Wokingham town opened on Monday (25 July).
This has swimming pools, children’s splash pad, a health suite with sauna, salt and steam room, a 120 station fitness suite, fitness studios including group cycling studio, a café and a dual-purpose hall for sports or 400 seat-cultural performances.
The facility, operated by Places Leisure, will also have a specialist gym for those with long term health conditions. Our contractors Pellikaan handed the building over on 5 July and tours were available in the run-up to the opening.
Main works began at the height of the covid-19 pandemic and more than 700 construction workers were involved in the scheme, part of the final phase of our regeneration of Wokingham town centre.
Carnival Hub, which also provides a new home for Wokingham library, has been built on the site of the former 1990s swimming pool and leisure centre in Wellington Road. This was knocked down in spring 2020.
The scheme also includes 55 low-carbon apartments at Carnival Place next door, which were formed off-site using an innovative "fabric first" approach and are among the most energy efficient homes in the borough.
It's been a pleasure to watch these ambitious plans become a reality and we're sure they'll provide enormous value to the community for many years to come.
 New road now fully open to traffic
The North Wokingham Distributor Road, built to serve new homes in the area and provide an alternative route to Wokingham town centre, is now fully up and running with footpaths and cycle paths along its length.
We've opened the last remaining section, a 550m stretch between Bell Foundry Lane and Dalley Road at Ashridge Farm, to create a 3.5-mile link between the town's western and eastern outskirts at Reading Road and London Road.
Our contractors Balfour Beatty finished work on this section last year but it had to stay closed for a while because of the high volume of construction traffic on a nearby housing development site. We worked with the developers to open it as soon as we could and would like to thank you for your patience.
This follows the completion of a new section of carriageway to the west of Old Forest Road, with a new 45m bridge over the railway line, and a realigned section of Toutley Road earlier this year.
The North Wokingham Distributor Road has an off-road cycle path to encourage active travel and reduce vehicle journeys, plus new nature parks where more than 2,000 trees have been planted and wildlife habitats created.
It also comprises Queens Road, Diamond Jubilee Way and Oak Avenue. Four sections were led by developers while three were led by us and Balfour Beatty.
 Green spaces accompany new road - with more to follow
Four nature parks have opened to date alongside the distributor road - Old Forest Meadows, Ashridge Meadows, Kentwood Meadows (pictured, courtesy of Thames Basin Heaths Partnership) and Keephatch Meadows.
These will be followed by a 4.5-hectare nature park at Ashridge Farm, which will have two ponds with a total area of about 1,500 sq m, including one specially for wildlife like crested newts, dragonflies, damselflies and grass snakes.
The park, which is yet to be named, will open in a few months once new planting is more established and will connect to the nature parks on either side to form a larger public green space at Wokingham town's northern edge.
It will have footpaths with natural topsoil surfacing as well as hibernation quarters for small mammals, bat boxes and “beetle hotels” made of wood from the site.
There are already tunnels to allow newts to cross under the new road safely and barriers to stop them trying where it isn't safe. Up to 70 trees are being planted on site, about four times the number removed to make way for the road.
These nature parks, totalling more than 35 hectares, offer improved access to adjoining green spaces including the Keephatch Park nature reserve off Diamond Jubilee Way, another popular site with walkers, and the allotments opposite.
 Another major road nearing completion
We're close to opening the southern half of the Nine Mile Ride Extension, with most construction work finished and only minor remedial works left to go.
Combined with the already completed northern half, this will provide a new access through the major development at Arborfield between A327 Eversley Road and the existing Nine Mile Ride at the Park Lane junction.
 Help us make walking and cycling safer and easier
We’d like everyone who lives or works in Wokingham borough, or visits regularly, to share their thoughts on two proposals to make walking and cycling around it safer and more accessible.
From 11 July to 19 August, we’re firstly seeking people’s views on our draft Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP). This is a strategic document which suggests improvements around the borough to help people walk, wheel, scoot or cycle and will be used to apply for funding for them.
The finished version will be completed in the autumn but will always be open to updates and new ideas. It will outline the most beneficial active travel routes and propose specific measures in places where the community wants them, subject to funding and further public consultation.
Between these dates, we’re also inviting comments on our revised plans for a new £4 million cycling and walking link from Woodley to Palmer Park, at the Reading borough boundary, to be mostly funded by significant contributions from the Department for Transport’s Active Travel Fund.
With the increasing cost of fuel, walking and cycling are likely to become more attractive for short journeys. We want to enable this by making it safe, comfortable, affordable and inclusive for everybody.
 Accolade for major construction schemes
We're delighted to have won a top industry award for our approach to major infrastructure projects.
We were named Client of the Year in the Constructing Excellence Awards, which were announced at a ceremony in London last month, and were also finalists in the Modern Methods of Construction and Net Zero Construction categories.
We were nominated for Client of the Year by Reds10, which worked with us on several projects including the expansion of Addington School in Woodley and the new Dinton Activity Centre at Dinton Pastures Country Park.
The firm, which specialises in modular construction, described us as "true pioneers" for showing clear, consistent leadership and a commitment to procurement based on quality, value, collaboration and community benefits.
The £4.4m expansion of Addington School was completed in 2020 with the addition of a single-storey block to increase capacity from 200 to 250. Much of it was built off site to minimise disruption as well as vehicle journeys.
The £2.4m Dinton Activity Centre, which opened last year, has many eco-friendly include solar panels, windcatchers on the roof for natural ventilation, low-energy LED lighting and air source heat pumps, all of which reduce the overall energy demand.
Both were built in partnership with HLM Architects, which nominated the latter for Modern Methods of Construction and Net Zero Construction.
 It's official - Wokingham town's shops are top!
Three independent Wokingham town businesses have won the county's top titles in an awards scheme decided by a public vote.
The Leafy Elephant bar and Hamlet restaurant at Peach Place, and the Fiona Parry Boutique for women's fashion at Elms Field were all honoured in this year's Muddy Stilettos Awards for Berkshire.
These recognise the best of local independents nationally with business nominated and voted for by residents who use them. This was one of their biggest years ever, with more than 75,000 businesses nominated and 765,000 votes cast.
The Leafy Elephant, named best bar in Berkshire, was among the first businesses to open at Peach Place in 2019, while Hamlet, which opened last year, was best restaurant. Fiona Parry Boutique, a recent opening, came top for women's fashion.
We're proud of these businesses and congratulate them for this achievement - and we strongly encourage everyone to shop locally as it supports the local economy while reducing the borough's carbon footprint.
 Care home scheme moving forward
Proposals to build a state-of-the-art specialist dementia care home at Toutley East, in North Wokingham, have been approved by our planning committee.
The committee has approved an outline application for a 68-bed facility along with up to 130 new homes, extensive landscaping and a potential new noise buffer to reduce the impact from the nearby A329(M).
The plans also include pedestrian and cycle links to the new St Cecilia's primary school in Matthewsgreen, which is ready to open when the local community needs it, and the shops at the district centre to the south on Queens Road.
The scheme will offer residents the high-quality care they will increasingly need while remaining local, close to family and friends. It will include at least 45 new affordable, energy efficient homes, which many families desperately need.
The decision was deferred from May so planning committee members could visit the site and seek assurance on concerns about access and closeness to the A329(M), both of which will be addressed when detailed plans are drawn up.
This will be done once our decision-making executive approves a strategic business case for the scheme. There will be further consultation before detailed designs are put forward for approval by the committee.
 New play area in the pipeline
We're working to install a new play area off Queens Road, in the Matthewsgreen area of North Wokingham, as soon as possible and a design has now been drawn up.
Once it's been agreed and finished, it'll have equipment suitable for children and teenagers of all ages - including a multi-use games area which can be used for several different sports.
This will benefit the community for many years so it's really important that we get it right for everyone and we want it to be worth the wait. We're looking forward to having it ready and welcoming its first visitors.
Until then, why not visit the high-tech new play area we installed at Cantley Park, near North Wokingham, earlier this year?
The Cantley Park Café has extended its hours for the summer and it's dog-friendly too - though please note that our four-legged friends aren't allowed in the play area!
 Gorse Ride regeneration plans welcomed
With site clearance and preparatory works underway on our Gorse Ride regeneration, residents had the chance to meet the project team and learn how the scheme is progressing at an exhibition of the detailed designs.
Our team gave a presentation about some of the regeneration's green features, which includes air source heat pumps, high levels of insulation and glazing, and plentiful electric vehicle charging points with space for more.
Some design elements, subject to planning approval, included changing some roofs to make them easier to maintain, a further move away from mains gas and changes to the proposed brick type to address concerns over supply of materials.
The updated designs also include proposed changes to a handful of properties, which have been allocated to individuals and families with specific needs and have been adapted to provide individualised solutions to help give them the highest quality of life.
These designs were also shared with the wider community at Finchampstead Parish Council’s Annual Gathering. Feedback was positive and there'll be further chances to comment when detailed designs are submitted for planning approval.
Work will also continue to clear and prepare the site, including pre-construction works like archaeological surveys, for groundworks and foundations later this year.
 Fighting for fairer housing numbers
We've stepped up our campaign to change how housing is planned nationally - and reduce the number of new homes which the Government is forcing us to take. The council's leader Clive Jones is meeting local MPs to ensure your voice is heard.
He is also calling on Greg Clark MP, who is responsible for the planning system as housing minister, to honour his predecessor Michael Gove's recent promise to visit the borough and discuss the matter personally.
Wokingham MP Sir John Redwood has raised the matter in Parliament since meeting Cllr Jones - who has also met MPs James Sunderland and Theresa May, whose Bracknell and Maidenhead constituencies include parts of this borough.
Under the current formula, set by the Government, we've got to plan for 781 new homes per year. Cllr Jones says this is unreasonably high, not based on true need and puts undue pressure on both our infrastructure and the environment. This is not to oppose all new housing, but it has to genuinely work for the community's benefit.
Newly released 2021 Census figures show the borough’s population has risen by about 15 per cent since 2011 – the largest increase in Berkshire and among the country’s biggest increases against a national average of 6.6 per cent.
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