A SMILING Prime Minister officially opened a new council-built development of affordable homes in Phoenix Avenue on Friday.
The new development of 68 houses and apartments is set in the Norreys Ward, close to Wokingham town centre.
After meeting senior Wokingham Borough Council councillors and leaders, she cut a blue ribbon to declare the new development open. She then visited residents to see inside the new homes and discover what they are like.
Her visit attracted a lot of attention from neighbours to the new development, including six-day old Ted Young who was happy to give the Prime Minister a cuddle.
He is the newest resident of Phoenix Avenue and was proudly watched by big sister Daisy Young (18 months) and parents Robyn Beard and Sam Young.
The Prime Minister visited a second property when she came out, she made a beeline for another group of well-wishers: Lauren Taylor with 18-month old Taylor Croshaw and Sam Childs with Layla Rose Smith (seven months).
After cutting the ribbon, Mrs May said that Phoenix Avenue looked absolutely superb.
“It’s very good to be here today and to see the development that’s taking place here in Wokingham,” she said.
In recent weeks, Mrs May has met with Wokingham Borough Council leaders and received letters from town and parish councils expressing concern over Government housing policy, particularly the five-year-land supply, something that she acknowledged in her comments.
“Housing is obviously a key issue,” she said. “There are so many people who want homes of their own, be they tenants or getting homes of their own and it’s great to see this development taking place.”
And she also joked about traffic problems caused by the regeneration of Wokingham’s town centre, which has seen roads closed and residents left irate over long journey times.
On a previous visit to Wokingham Borough Council’s offices at Shute End, her driver “took a wrong turn and we ended up going a very long way round to get to Shute End because of all the development work.”
Phoenix Avenue is a range of one bedroom apartments to four bedroom terraced houses. Each home has a private garden or landscaped communal area.
All properties at Phoenix Avenue are available for social and affordable rent through Wokingham Borough Council’s housing register.
The properties are built by Wokingham Homes Ltd, a council-owned company and have been nominated for the UK Housing Awards: Wokingham Borough Council has been nominated for the strategic local authority award, which focuses on the relationship between authorities and partners to provide a committed approach to housing need. Meanwhile, WHL has been nominated for outstanding development programme of the year, which looks to recognise developers who have shown ambition, determination and innovation to deliver new homes.
