With site clearance and preparatory works underway on Wokingham Borough Council’s Gorse Ride regeneration, local residents had the chance to come along and meet the project team to find out how the scheme is progressing at an exhibition of the detailed designs.
The exhibition was also shared with the wider community at Finchampstead Parish Council’s Annual Gathering. The team gave a presentation about some of the green features of the regeneration, which includes elements such as air source heat pumps, high levels of insulation and glazing, and plentiful electric vehicle charging points with the infrastructure to add more as demand increases in future years.
Some of the detailed design elements on display, which will be subject to planning approval once submitted this summer, included proposed changes to some of the roofs to make it easier to maintain, a further move away from mains gas in support of the council’s climate emergency ambitions, and changes to the proposed brick type to address concerns over supply of materials whilst keeping the feel of the original design.
The updated designs also include proposed changes to a handful of properties, which have been allocated to individuals and families with specific needs and have been adapted to provide individualised solutions to help give them the highest quality of life.
Cllr Stephen Conway, the newly appointed deputy leader of the council and executive member for housing, said: “Events like this are a great opportunity to get to know local people and feedback from residents has been excellent. We even had one local resident, Kerry Soper-Dyer, who’s family have lived in Gorse Ride for years and have been an integral part of bringing the regeneration forward, make a fantastic cake for the
Annual Gathering in the shape of one of the new houses which people loved on the night.
“It’s incredibly important to us that we can keep the local Gorse Ride community involved in the project. This is a major project happening which impacts on their homes so we want to work closely with them to make sure they know what is happening and can keep up-to-date.
“We will continue to run a range of community events and activities throughout the regeneration, including our regular housing surgeries as well as community projects and exhibitions. Residents can also make use of the new Gorse Ride community hub at 20 Gorse Ride South, which opened in March, and offers people the opportunity to pop in and meet the council’s community engagement team and officers for a chat or to view the detailed plans.”
Download Guide PDF147 Keeping the Gorse Ride community up-to-date