WORK has begun on a new housing development on the former Allied Bakeries site in Woodley.
The Bloor Homes development, which will consist of 68 homes, was granted planning permission by Wokingham Borough Council WBC) in April 2015.
The site, which is located off Viscount Way, has been vacant since the bakery closed in 2006.
The development, named Bakers Place, will comprise a range of one to five bedroom homes, 20 of which are being provided as affordable housing.
A new access road is being created from Loddon Bridge Road, while new footpaths will be laid to link the development to the area of public open space to the east and to Viscount Way.
As part of the development Bloor Homes is contributing more than £1.2million towards local services through a Section 106 agreement with the council.
The contributions include £719,161 for education, £230,394.22 towards improving leisure facilities in the area, and £15,590.36 to pay for an extension to Woodley Library.
The company will also be contributing £266,500 for highways works, including an improved road crossing on Spitfire Way and Headley Road East, improvements to local bus stops, an off-road cycleway along Miles Way from Bader Way to Spitfire Way, a cycle link from Headley Road East and Headley Road to Woodley town centre, and a cycleway and footpath extension at Butts Hill railway bridge.
John Lusty, regional managing director at Bloor Homes Southern, said: “Our Bakers Place development will breathe new life into a previously vacant site and deliver much-needed housing for local people as well as providing vital investment in local services and transport improvements.
“The development will benefit from a fantastic location, within walking distance of Woodley town centre and just a short drive from both Reading and Wokingham, and the homes have been carefully designed to blend in with the neighbouring residential properties.
“We’re delighted that construction work has now begun and we look forward to welcoming house-hunters to the development when it launches in the new year.”
