700 new town centre homes regeneration plans move closer

The News revealed in May Bracknell Forest Council (BFC) was looking for a partner to develop proposals for £300 million worth of town-centre regeneration investment.

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Plans include redeveloping Market Street, Jubilee Gardens and Coopers Hill to create space for the new homes, as well as new offices, hotels or community facilties too.

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Documents suggest 227 apartments could be developed at Market Street, 200 residential units could pop up at Jubilee Gardens and another 200 homes could feature at Coopers Hill.

Now bosses are set to draw up a shortlist of their preferred partners for the regeneration work, despite originally intending to do this in July.

Cllr Peter Heydon, BFC’s transformation and finance, said: “We’ve reached a milestone moment in the tendering process to find a suitable, experienced and creative development partner to regenerate three key sites around Bracknell town centre.

“The project will not only help us to regenerate these sites to boost our economy and provide new homes and employment opportunities, but it will also provide much-needed funding for our frontline services like a new centrally based youth facility for our young people to enjoy.”

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BFC hopes to award the regeneration contract in June 2020, with the aim of starting building work in 2021.

Part of the plans involve selling off Coopers Hill Community Centre - something a portion of users are not happy about it.

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But BFC says the site would need £1 million more investment to keep it to a usable standard and plans are in advanced stages for a new centre in Braccan Walk.