 Gearing up to build a new road responsibly
Our partners at Balfour Beatty have almost finished the enabling works for the South Wokingham Distributor Road, with main construction about to start.
As well as building things like site offices and entrances, they've been clearing trees and hedges along the route that the finished road will take.
We know the landscape has changed drastically in places, so we'd like to explain why we've done this and how we'll be making up for it.
This includes the steps we took while planning and carrying out the works, as well as the landscaping and planting that's going to happen in future.
We're legally obliged to protect wildlife like nesting birds, and we're also required to provide more habitats than there were before the project began.
We take these duties seriously, and we've been working with independent ecologists to make sure we're doing everything right.
Next week, we'll be announcing more details about the road closures that are coming as part of this project. The first closures will take place at the junction of Molly Millars Lane and Finchampstead Road from mid-summer, with further closures expected on Easthampstead Road towards the end of the year.
 Above: an ecologist inspects a tree within the South Wokingham Distributor Road's construction site
Wildlife and habitats considered from the outset
Before seeking planning permission to build the road, we carried out extensive surveys with input from ecologists to produce an Environmental Impact Assessment.
This ensures we know what plants and animals are living on the site and can plan how we make up for any impact during construction.
We started the tree clearance works in January to ensure we could finish before the start of the bird nesting season in March.
We know some birds, like rooks, may start nesting earlier so an independent ecologist inspected every tree for signs of activity before felling.
The ecologist also carries out daily checks of the site and has only seen old, disused nests so far, with no evidence of roosting bats either.
Balfour Beatty and sub-contractors are aware of their responsibilities too, so we're confident that we've taken great care - and we'll keep it up as works progress.
Find out more about the new development at South Wokingham which this new road will serve when finished. The road is being forward funded by the Government and the housing developers will eventually pay this back.
 Image courtesy of Wokingham Town Council / Wokingham in Bloom
SOS: volunteers help to Save Our Snowdrops
Volunteers from Wokingham Town Council and Wokingham in Bloom have rescued millions of snowdrops from land on the path of the new road.
The teams dug up more than 40 crates from the site off Finchampstead Road, and will soon be replanting them in new locations across the town.
These include Howard Palmer Gardens, Holt Copse and Joel Park, Rose Street, local schools and other community venues including All Saints' churchyard.
Balfour Beatty gave a safety briefing before they started and helped with digging, while Tesco gave free parking and SHARE Wokingham provided crates.
The volunteers took the initiative to organise this after spotting the snowdrops, and we're very thankful for their efforts.
 Above: the North Wokingham Distributor Road included extensive replanting, with grass verges lined with trees
How we'll replace what we've removed
We're required to provide a "biodiversity net gain" of 10 per cent on this scheme - in other words, to create more wildlife habitats than we cleared.
We'll make these improvements by planting near the road and on nearby embankments and verges, as part of our agreed landscaping strategy.
This will comprise hedgerow and small woodland copse planting to provide screening from homes and help the road blend in with its surroundings.
Hedgerows will contain native trees to match those on nearby roads and lanes, and we've designed the street lighting to reduce the impact on roosting bats.
The landscaping includes a variety of species including trees, shrubs, flowering lawns and wildflower meadows, as well as several drainage ponds.
It's been carefully designed to reflect its surroundings, including wet and riparian (riverside) woodland planting in areas near the Emm Brook.
On top of the replanting associated with this scheme, several new nature parks are coming to South Wokingham as part of the wider housing development. We'll be looking at this in more detail in another newsletter.
 Above: new planting and a flood drainage pond at South Wokingham, built for an earlier phase of the new road
Some felling unavoidable after weighing up options
As well as clearing the route for the new road, some trees had to be felled to make room for supporting infrastructure like drainage culverts.
These 3m (9.8ft) by 3m channels, buried 5m (16ft) underground, are a key part of the scheme's flood alleviation measures.
We considered whether we could avoid felling nearby trees but, due to the scale of excavation, this wasn't possible as their roots would have been damaged.
Roots usually spread further than any growth you can see above ground, and damaging them puts trees at risk of falling over.
We assessed and recorded all trees that were due for removal as part of the planning process, and took them into account in our mitigation measures.
Relocating any trees would not have been feasible, as larger and older specimens have bigger root systems and are less likely to survive the process.
Help others to stay in the know!
If you know someone who could be affected by these works, please feel free to forward this newsletter and encourage them to join our South Wokingham mailing list. It's free, and it takes just seconds to sign up.
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