WORK on Elms Field – the next phase of Wokingham’s town centre regeneration – has begun, but there have been calls for it to be paused while other elements are completed.
On Monday, January 29, preparation works for the construction of a cinema, Aldi supermarket, new homes and a hotel began. The project begins in earnest in mid-March, and will take place while Peach Place and the Market Place works are continuing.
Although the council is excited, the opposition said that more co-ordination is needed to avoid any more chaos around the town. Since Market Place works started last year, Denmark Street or parts of Broad Street have been closed to traffic, causing gridlock across the town.
Aldi hopes to open by Christmas 2018
In a statement on Monday, Cllr Stuart Munro, executive member for business and economic development and regeneration said: “It’s exciting to be breaking ground on this major project which will create a fantastic new location for Wokingham.
“There will be new shops and restaurants, an Everyman cinema, Aldi, Premier Inn, and new homes all focused around a fantastic landscaped town centre park with a destination play area and lots of space for events such as the Winter Carnival and May Fayre.”
The preparation works are ground investigations including archaeological surveys, as well as utilities, tree works and fencing. When completed, McLaughlin & Harvey will start construction next month.
Cllr Munro said: “The majority of this work is contained within the site boundaries so should have limited impact on the surrounding roads and businesses.
“However, due to the nature of the works there may be a requirement to close off areas of the park and some spaces within the car parks to allow work to be carried out safely and for equipment to be stored.
“There may also be a requirement to close off sections of the footpath or highway immediately adjacent to any works but this will be kept to a minimum and carefully managed to minimise impact as much as possible.”
Work on the Elms Field phase of the town centre regeneration is expected to complete in phases, with the first phase being complete at the end of 2019 with work carrying on through to 2020.
But Cllr Lindsay Ferris, the Wokingham Liberal Democrat leader, felt that the council should have been more cautious in its planning, warning that it would just make more mess.
Speaking to The Wokingham Paper, he said: “There isn’t any co-ordination between the regeneration projects of Peach Place, Market Place and Elms Field. They are all standalone projects.
“All the work should be co-ordinated, but it’s all happening at the same time. Someone should be overseeing it.”
