£1.75 million spent to buy homes to make way for major road

Buildings 81, 83 and 85 Finchampstead Road will be demolished to make way for a roundabout as part of the controversial South Wokingham Distributor Road plans.

Plans to flatten the houses to make way for an improved roundabout at Finchampstead Road and Molly Millars Lane were given the go ahead on Tuesday, May 18.

READ MORE: South Wokingham Distributor Road approved despite safety fears

The improved roundabout, called the Western Gateway, was drawn up to increase capacity on the road and hopefully ease journeys.

However, the council has spent more than one and a half million pounds buying up buildings so they can be knocked down to make way for new road and roundabout.

81 Finchampstead Road is a two-storey house owned by the council. Aerial photos from Google Maps show the home with its conservatory and a sizeable garden.

According to Land Registry data, the home was sold to the council for £800,000 last October.

The council also acquired 76B Finchampstead Road for £425,000 in September 2019, and spent £525,000 for 76A in March 2020, making up the £1.75 million figure.

That means the council has spent at least £1.75 million acquiring three houses to build the South Wokingham Distributor Road.

All three of these homes are occupied by people who have been referred to the council’s housing team.

This effectively means the council is allowing people to live in the homes while they remain standing. The occupants will then be relocated before all three of the houses are demolished.

Meanwhile, 83 and 85 Finchampstead Road used to serve as the base of Wokingham Borough Council’s Family Resource Centre, which has been relocated to the Palm Centre in Rectory Road, Wokingham.

The Family Resource Centre provides support to children and acts as a liaison between different services to assist the child and their family alike.

The plan for the roundabout was hit with criticism at the planning committee meeting. It initially involved removing a pedestrian crossing in Finchampstead Road – which will be replaced with a toucan crossing after the Wokingham Liberal Democrats pressed the issue.

Cllr Sarah Kerr (Lib Dem) who spoke at the meeting, said: “One of our biggest concerns was the removal of the heavily utilised pedestrian crossing on the Finchampstead Road.

“We have had numerous conversations with the highways planning team to get them at the very least to reinstate this crossing into the design.  Finally, after we insisted it became a planning condition, the highway’s team conceded, and the planning committee accepted a design with a toucan crossing.

“Whilst we are very disappointed that the scheme is not future proof because it doesn’t promote active travel, we are pleased that we have been able to make a poor scheme a little bit better.”

READ MORE: Fate of 1,600 home plan south of Wokingham decided

Wokingham Liberal Democrats have argued that the South Wokingham Distributor Road is unsafe for pedestrians and cyclists. However, the road, which will run from a new development south of the railway track to Finchampstead Road, and the new roundabout were both approved by the planning committee.