A significant milestone has been reached at Wokingham Borough Council’s flagship regeneration scheme at Gorse Ride in Finchampstead where the first set of bricks for the first new houses in Phase 2A have been laid by Borough Mayor Cllr Caroline Smith and executive member for housing Cllr Stephen Conway.
The event was also attended by representatives from the council and appointed contractor Wates, and the vice chair of the Gorse Ride steering group Matt Sales.
Wates have been on-site since October progressing with the enabling works which include trenching for new drainage and infrastructure for services, levelling the ground, digging and building the foundations up to the damp proof course level and pouring the foundations.
At the event, the Mayor and Cllr Conway cemented the first set of bricks to the blockwork. Work will now begin to lay the rest of the bricks and build the ground floor blockwork for the first 16 new homes.
Borough Mayor Cllr Caroline Smith said: “It is great to see work progressing at Phase 2A of the regeneration of Gorse Ride to build the first set of new homes. These new homes will offer a great place for our residents and their families to live, learn, work and grow.”
Executive member for housing Cllr Stephen Conway said: “This is a very exciting stage of the regeneration project as the initial blockwork and foundations are built for the first 16 new homes. We can already see the ground floor rooms, such as the kitchen, living dining area and cloakroom, taking shape. The brickwork and ground floor work will now start and soon we will see these new homes in their glory.”
Lee Bushell, Regional Director of Wates Residential said: “The work we are doing here at Gorse Ride is laying the foundations of the comfortable, energy efficient homes that will serve the Gorse Ride community for many years to come.”
About the regeneration
The Gorse Ride regeneration is one of the council’s flagship housing projects which will see 249 new modern homes built on site, a massive 74% of which will be affordable homes to meet growing, local demand. Four properties will be designed to accommodate the needs of people moving into the regenerated new homes for example wheelchair accessible with level access to shower facilities.
The new homes have been designed to be energy efficient with high levels of insulation and low carbon innovations such as air source heat pumps to help reduce emissions and make them more affordable to heat, tackling the fuel poverty crisis whilst helping to reduce the borough’s carbon footprint.
The phased regeneration at Gorse Ride will take place over many years, transforming the community in a place local people can be proud of. The council will continue to work closely with the local community throughout the second phase of the regeneration to ensure people are relocated and new properties are delivered with as little disruption as possible.
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