 Above: Buckhurst Meadows nature park at South Wokingham, provided as part of the Montague Park development
New green spaces to come with new homes
Our partners at Balfour Beatty are completing the South Wokingham Distributor Road to serve new housing and other infrastructure that's coming to this area.
As we've explained in a previous newsletter, the new road includes lots of planting and landscaping to provide more trees and hedges than we removed.
But later on, in addition to this, 40 hectares of new nature parks will be provided as part of the wider South Wokingham development.
These green spaces serve as both an attractive place for people to visit and as havens for local wildlife, with features to provide habitats.
They'll be funded by the housing developers as part of their planning obligations, and we'll take them over once they're finished to a suitable standard.
All of these measures will ensure that any new development brings an overall increase in biodiversity, as it's legally required to do.
Need to know how the South Wokingham Distributor Road construction works could affect your journey? See the links at the bottom of this newsletter.
 Above: click to enlarge this diagram showing the location of the new nature parks in relation to the new road
Nature parks will follow once new road finished
As part of the new road works, Balfour Beatty will be digging a drainage basin for a large new nature park at Holme Park, to the west of Easthampstead Road.
This will be fenced off for people's safety while works are carried out, and the developers will finish landscaping and planting before the nature park opens.
Two more nature parks are also due: one at Chapel Green and another south of St Anne's Manor Hotel, extending Buckhurst Meadows off William Heelas Way.
These will be built by the developers who'll be building in this area, and be funded by them as part of their legal agreements, rather than as part of the new road.
They'll be linked by green "corridors" for people and wildlife to pass between them.
There'll also be another 27 hectares of public open spaces, including:
- four parks and gardens (five hectares)
- 11 play areas of different types for different ages (one hectare)
- five allotments sites and community orchards (three hectares)
- recreational open space (4.5 hectares)
- natural and semi-natural green spaces, mostly for wildlife (13 hectares)
These will be built around the same time as nearby housing developments, and the developers will pay us an upfront sum of money for their long-term upkeep.
You can take a closer look at the designs for the new nature parks at Holme Park, Chapel Green and St Anne's. Alternatively, you can view the planning applications that include full details for Holme Park, Chapel Green and St Anne's as part of their supporting documents.
 Above: Old Forest Meadows, one of five nature parks provided alongside the North Wokingham Distributor Road
A welcoming space for people and wildlife alike
The proposed nature parks will have level, even and accessible footpaths, allowing everyone to enjoy circular walks that will be clearly marked with signage.
They'll have seating and litter bins, and will link to existing public rights of way and the new neighbourhoods being built.
Other features will include wildflower meadows, orchards and wetland corridors with features like ponds, which will improve drainage while attracting aquatic species.
There will be scope to include public artworks, similar to the butterfly sculptures installed at Montague Park in honour of the town's silk trade heritage.
Did you know?
We have to provide nature parks to reduce the impact on ground-nesting birds outside the borough, in the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area.
By creating green spaces on people's doorsteps, they also don't have to travel as far to reach them - making it easier to walk or cycle there instead of driving.
People can also walk or cycle through them as part of a longer journey, so they're an attractive addition to the wider transport network.
 Above: Ashridge Meadows, another of the five nature parks provided at North Wokingham
Following the example we've set before
We followed a similar approach with the North Wokingham major development, which has five nature parks along the North Wokingham Distributor Road.
These parks - Old Forest Meadows, Ashridge Meadow, Kentwood Meadow, Keephatch Meadows and a fifth set to open in due course - are highly accessible to the public with a range of features for wildlife to live in.
That includes bat roosting boxes, "bug hotels" for bees and other pollinating insects, balancing ponds for amphibians like newts and more.
There's already a nature park at Buckhurst Meadows, off William Heelas Way in South Wokingham, as part of the Montague Park estate.
This has lots of new planting, including a community orchard, plus a reed bed that's home to all kinds of creatures including dragonflies.
Our Shinfield and Arborfield major developments have nature parks too, and we're also making biodiversity improvements at Ashenbury Park in Woodley and our Covid memorial woodland at Finchampstead.
 Above: an artist's impression of the new footbridge next to the new South Wokingham Distributor Road
Better access to the countryside and beyond
Once the works are finished, there'll be lots of improvements to the footpath network off Finchampstead Road, between Gipsy Lane and the Ludgrove track.
These include a new and more accessible footbridge over the Emm Brook, separate from the new road, to be installed by Balfour Beatty as part of the new road project.
Later on, as part of the wider development, the rest of the footpath network will be upgraded and resurfaced to make it suitable for use all year round, while maintaining a natural appearance.
They'll officially remain footpaths, but we've secured permissive use by cyclists so everyone can use them for local journeys as part of our active travel network.
This will be done by the housing developers themselves, and not by Balfour Beatty as part of the new road scheme.
The South Wokingham development will include a new primary school, community building, sports hub, improved pedestrian and cycle links and 2,450 new homes with a 35 per cent affordable housing element. We'll look at these in more depth in a future newsletter.
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