 First glimpse of Arborfield food store plans
We've received a planning application for a new Sainsbury's supermarket at the upcoming district centre in Arborfield Green, which we awarded planning permission earlier this autumn.
You can find out more on our planning portal and give us your views on the plans before Tuesday, 19 December.
Less distance to travel for shopping
Sainsbury's wants to build a 1,448 sq m food store on 2.4 acres of land off Nine Mile Ride Extension, which would sit alongside the shops, green space, housing and other amenities that are due to come with the district centre.
The store would be built to the north-west of Bohunt School and its car park, and to the south-west of Arborfield Green Leisure Centre and the adjacent former Ministry of Defence training building.
Sainsbury’s intends to run it as a "neighbourhood hub" store offering an additional "click and collect" service so it can offer more products.
It would complement the existing Co-op food store at the former Bramshill Hunt pub, off Bramshill Close, which opened in 2021 and is the only other food store serving this growing community.
 Blending in with low environmental impact
The store would be within walking distance of the new homes built in recent years, reducing the need to drive for shopping and encouraging walking or cycling as a greener alternative. This is in line with our own climate emergency goals.
There would be a raised shared surface next to the store, giving priority to pedestrians and making it safer. This could also benefit Bohunt students and encourage them to walk to and from school.
Sainsbury's says it would be built in a style to match surrounding buildings, featuring brickwork and timber cladding, and a small hedgerow would be planted at the boundary to reduce headlight glare from vehicles at night.
The store is within 200m of a bus stop served by the Leopard 3 route to Reading and Wokingham town and there would be covered cycle storage and at least six electric vehicle bays with chargepoints to further encourage sustainable travel.
It would also have environmentally friendly features like solar panels, rainwater harvesting, dimmable outdoor LED lights and more.
We're changing how we collect rubbish and recycling from most households next summer. From August 2024, most properties will have rubbish collected fortnightly from a wheeled rubbish bin and recycling collected fortnightly from our reusable green bags. Find out more on our dedicated web pages and sign up to our fortnightly Rubbish & Recycling newsletter.
 The bigger picture - what's on the horizon
The district centre will also include a pub, community centre, playground, allotments and more across a 10.6-hectare plot.
There'll be a pedestrianised high street and public square and 18 commercial units, plus space for a pre-school, a day nursery, public house and a community building. It will be accompanied by 206 new homes, including affordable ones.
Building will take about three years but the first shops should open about 18 months after work starts. Anyone interested in commercial space should contact the developer Crest Nicholson, who are providing the centre as part of a legal agreement.
The former Infirmary Stables, a scheduled monument to the north of the district centre, are set to be brought back into use with more to be announced next year, and Crest are also preparing updated drawings for new sports facilities in the area.
All these facilities and the new homes they serve were allocated as part of our Local Plan, a long-term strategy produced to meet local housing need and Government requirements.
Don't forget that our Wokingham Borough Connect newsletters cover a range of topics, from our twice-weekly Residents' Round-up to Rubbish & Recycling, Traffic & Travel, Countryside, What's On and more. It's free and easy to sign up.
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