Wokingham Borough Council gave the go-ahead for the building of the new District Centre.

The new community at Arborfield has at last had a massive boost as Wokingham Borough Council gave the go-ahead for the building of the new District Centre.

When the Libems took over at WBC 18 months ago, the whole project at Arborfield was in the Doldrums. Covid had of course taken a toll, but constant changes of management at the Developers, the weariness of the then local councillors and a lack of drive by both officers and the previous ruling group had let Arborfield drift and left local people feeling powerless and deserted.

Newly-elected LibDem councillors in Finchampstead and Barkham have pushed Arborfield back to the top of the council agenda and the Executive Team, led by Stephen Conway and Lindsay Ferris, encouraged officers to take a more robust approach and pushed hard to get the developer back on track.

After 18 months of hard work, the building of the District Centre, which will be the heart of the new community, is now due to start early next Spring.

The granting of Planning consent for the District Centre now means that a planning application can come forward for the new supermarket and building this is also expected to start next spring.

This, together with solving the funding challenge for the expansion of Bohunt school means that things are finally looking up for the people at Arborfield Green.

LibDem PPC for Wokingham Clive Jones says “ Of course there is still some way to go before community facilities at Arborfield are completed, and it’s all taken far too long. But I am very pleased at how the LibDem team at WBC have shaken things up and got things moving again after so many years of drift and delay”.