 Click to enlarge this overview of the new development in relation to existing roads and landmarks
Looking beyond the new road: what's coming up
Construction of the South Wokingham Distributor Road is now under way, with main works due to start soon and end in early 2027.
The finished road will provide access to about 1,820 new homes and supporting infrastructure, including green spaces, on land south of the railway line.
Along with the 636 homes already built at Montague Park, off William Heelas Way, this will form our major new community at South Wokingham.
The major new communities are set out in our Local Plan so we can meet our housing and other growth needs in the long term.
There are three others at North Wokingham, Shinfield Parish and the former Arborfield Garrison, all of which are progressing to completion.
 Your chance to find out more in person
We're holding a community forum at St Sebastian's Memorial Hall in Wokingham Without (Nine Mile Ride, RG40 3BA) on Thursday, 15 May.
You'll be able to see the latest plans for the South Wokingham area, including the road, housing, green spaces and more, and ask questions.
The event runs from 4.30pm until 7pm and it's an informal drop-in, so there's no need to book - just turn up on the day.
Developers Miller, Kier and Kingacre will be attending, as will representatives from our road building partners at Balfour Beatty.
The developers will be discussing the most recent and detailed proposals for South Wokingham, which you can read more about here and here.
If you've just signed up to this newsletter, there's more useful information at the bottom of this email - and if you've been forwarded this by someone else, you can sign up to receive all the latest updates in future.
 Click to enlarge this diagram showing the sites of the housing and nature park applications which we've approved
Affordable housing, transport links and more
The plans for the homes to the south of the railway were approved across three separate planning applications (here, here and here) in 2024.
There'll be 637 affordable homes, or 35 per cent of the total allocation, and we expect it could take almost 10 years before all housing is built.
The new South Wokingham Distributor Road will include changes to the layout of Easthampstead Road, including a new link road off Heathlands Road for access to new housing and a three-way junction to the south of the level crossing.
The road will have a shared footway and cycleway along its length as well as bus stops, with services to come later, as part of our commitment to promoting sustainable travel and addressing the climate emergency.
There'll also be 40 hectares of new nature parks across three sites and a further 27 hectares of public open space, with further improvements to the existing footpath network including permissive access for cyclists.
Our previous newsletter looked at this in more detail, including close-up diagrams of the proposed nature parks at Chapel Green, Holme Park and St Anne's.
Infrastructure on our major developments is funded by developers under legal agreements linked to their planning permissions for housing. This includes the new road, which is being funded upfront by the Government and will be paid back by the developers later on.
 Click to enlarge this diagram showing current and future primary schools and other community amenities
A vision for an integrated, thriving community
The new development will have a two-form entry primary school on land to the south of the new road, near the junction with Easthampstead Road.
This follows the provision of Floreat Montague Park Primary School, which opened in 2016 and is now flourishing with more than 400 pupils. Its sports facilities, including an all-weather pitch, are open to the community outside school hours.
There'll be a new community building next door to the new school, larger than the one provided at Montague Park, with shop units and community space.
Proposals for an outdoors sports hub at Grays Farm, off Heathlands Road, are being finalised and we're expecting a planning application later this year.
Like all local authorities, we aren't responsible for providing health services like GPs and dentists and can't require these as part of the planning process.
However, we work with the local integrated care board (ICB), which commissions these services, to help the NHS understand current and future demand in the area.
The community building would be suitable in principle for health services, among other uses, but this would depend on things like the ICB wanting to pursue it.
Don't forget - as part of the South Wokingham Distributor Road works, there'll be closures at the junction of Molly Millars Lane and Finchampstead Road from late July to early 2026, with two weekend closures coming up in May.
 Click to enlarge this outline diagram of the growth proposed in our new Local Plan (image: David Lock Associates)
Further expansion of the new community
Our current planning policies are coming to their natural end, so we've prepared a new Local Plan that looks ahead to 2040.
We've submitted this for independent examination following multiple rounds of extensive public consultation, and will seek to adopt it if it's approved.
The new plan includes a further 1,100 homes at South Wokingham, on top of those already permitted under our current Local Plan. These would again be comprehensively supported by developer-funded infrastructure.
You can view a larger version of the diagram above on page 79 of the proposed submission plan, along with more details of what's being proposed.
As well as meeting demand for housing, allowing future generations to live and work locally, we have to plan ahead in line with national planning policy.
If we don't do this, it will be harder for us to resist speculative and potentially less suitable development proposals.
In case you missed it...
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