AMBITIOUS plans to regenerate Wokingham’s town centre took another step forward this week, after the foundations of a new multi-storey car park and leisure centre were laid down.
The Carnival Pool development is the first visible sign of the regeneration, which will ultimately see the creation of a new public square, Peach Place, in Rose Street Car Park, a new look to Elms Field and the opening of a new boutique cinema with restaurants and a hotel.
Works on Carnival Pool started in June, with contractor Balfour Beatty now completing the initial stages. The council said that this work includes diverting drainage and relocating utilities, securely hoarding off the area, further surveys including archaeology, and digging out the area for the new bowling alley.
Pile installation is expected to be completed later this summer, with Balfour Beatty pouring the concrete slabs and erecting the new stair and lift cores from October. This will allow the steel frame to start going up, towards the end of the year.
Exciting
Cllr Mark Ashwell, executive member for planning and regeneration, said: “It’s really exciting seeing things happening. We are currently installing the pile foundations ready for the new building to start going up later this year.
“Given the location of the site and the proximity of houses and businesses we felt it warranted a careful approach. This piling solution allows us to drill and backfill all at once, rather than using a more standard driven piling approach, as it has far less impact on the surrounding area and is quieter and cleaner.”
Now that the works are properly under way and the public can see the plans start to take shape, the Council said that it wants to ensure communication is key.
Cllr Ashwell said: “We’re really keen on keeping people up-to-date with what’s happening on site, both at the Carnival Pool and across the other regeneration projects. We’ve now set up a delivery section on the Regeneration Company website to share the latest programme and progress information.
“People can go here to view the latest news and photos from the regeneration team and, in the coming months, will be able to view the first videos from the new time-lapse camera which has been installed to record progress throughout the project.”
Work on the new car park is expected to be completed by April next year with the new leisure unit opening in the summer.
For more on the regeneration project, log on to: www.regenerationcompany.co.uk.
