Wokingham Borough Council is delighted to have been allocated £5million by the Berkshire-wide Business Rates Retention Pilot (BRRP 2) to help fund the Eastern Gateway section of the South Wokingham Distributor Road, part of its Major Highways Project.
The BRRP2 is part of a Government pilot which allows local councils in Berkshire, including Wokingham Borough, to retain a percentage of the business rates paid by businesses in the Borough. A percentage of this money is then allocated by the government to the Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) for infrastructure projects, they then distribute this money to the Berkshire authorities following a bidding process. Wokingham Borough Council has been successful in its bid and has been awarded £5million towards The Eastern Gateway project.
Cllr Pauline Jorgensen, executive member for highways and transport said, “We are working hard to ensure that we have the right infrastructure in place to support our growing borough with new homes, schools, sports facilities, community centres, parks and open spaces. Alongside this we are building strategic new roads to improve the network, and reduce congestion, for our residents and local businesses through our £124million Major Highways Project. We are delighted that that we have been allocated this BRRP2 funding of £5million towards the Eastern Gateway section of the South Wokingham Distributor Road”.
A planning application for the SWDR Eastern Gateway was submitted in Autumn 2017 with planning permission for the scheme granted in April 2018. Detailed design work is currently being undertaken with construction due to start this Spring and the new road scheduled to open to traffic towards the end of 2020.
This funding has been received in addition to the £6.26million that was allocated to the council last year towards Winnersh Relief Road Phase 2 which received planning approval last October 2018. Enabling works have now begun in preparation for construction that is due to begin this Autumn.
For further details on Wokingham Borough Council’s Major Highways Project please visit www.wokingham.gov.uk and search Major New Roads.
