At 11am on Thursday 11th November, worksites across the development fell silent to remember the service and sacrifice of all those that have defended our freedoms.
The Skanska team, joined by Trade Contractors and project stakeholders, laid a wreath by the memorial at St Barbara’s Church to show our respect for the bravery and courage of those who fought for our country.
Please find below the latest construction update.
1 – Work to the Green Swathe will continue, including soft landscaping and footpath works. Access will continue to be from the Frimley Lock cycle path into the South of the Green Swathe. Further details of these works will be shared with neighbouring residents.
2 – Maintenance works are ongoing to the Village Green, Central SANGs and Mindenhurst’ Road, including de-weeding, grass cutting and planting.
3 – Continuing works on the Local Area of Play (LAP), which includes soft landscaping and installation of the play equipment.
4 –Commencing remediation works on the Bovis Bank. Access to this area of the site will be through the existing Bovis A3 Parcel. Air monitoring equipment has already been put in place for these works to ensure that there is no risk to the public or residents during the remediation works.
5 – Commencement and completion of remedial works to the residents’ access drive off Deepcut Bridge Road, just North of the railway bridge. These works will be controlled by traffic management in the form of a lane width restriction for the duration of the works. A full road closure will be in place on the 16/11/2021 to complete works on the railway bridge. There will be yellow advanced warning signs in place for this road closure and a full diversion in place.
6 – Asbestos surveys to the existing MOD buildings will continue.
Please find below the latest construction update.
1 – Continuing with trenching works on Blackdown Road for installation of services to the new substation. This will also involve some vegetation clearance to allow for excavation of the full width of the private access road.
2 – Continuing with landscape maintenance across the site, including grass cutting, de-weeding, planting and vegetation clearance.
3 – Commencement of repair works to the railway bridge located on Deepcut Bridge Road. This will include a width restriction for four weeks from Wednesday 13th October 2021 and a full road closure on Tuesday 16th November 2021.
4 – Commencement of vegetation clearance and remediation works to the Bovis Bank, which is located just South of the Bovis housing site on Royal Way. These works will be access via the Bovis plot and will not cause additional traffic to Mindenhurst Road or Royal Way.
5 – Soft landscaping works will commence to the LAP area. This is located on the east side of the Bovis welfare facilities and will involve the use of heavy plant and delivery vehicles, which will deliver seed and plants. We do not anticipate this will cause any additional traffic issues in the area
6 – Continuing with works in the Green Swathe (located between the Cala land parcels), which will involve importation of ground and soft landscaping works. Works will be accessed via the Frimley Lock cycle path and Brunswick Road if required.
7 – Environmental works will be continuing across the site, including bat surveys, closing redundant badger setts, and relocating reptiles from our construction sites. We are also installing new bat roosts to assist in migrating bats from buildings listed for demolition.
Mindenhurst held a community bake sale on Friday 24th September to raise money for MacMillan Cancer Support.
The event was held outside of Skanska’s site office with a wonderful spread of sweet treats on offer for local residents and staff. The sale was a big success with a total of £136 raised for MacMillan.
The event was held as part of Macmillan’s Coffee Morning, which sees community organisations all over the UK holding events to raise money for people living with cancer.
Niki Dufour, Mindenhurst’s Community Relations Manager said:
“It was great to see so many people attend our community bake sale and every penny we raised will help MacMillan to support even more people living with cancer.”
Each year Skanska employees receive additional paid leave to support local community organisations based in the areas Skanska operate in. This year, Skanska’s Mindenhurst team has partnered with the Hope Hub and Basingstoke Canal Society.
The Hope Hub is a registered charity working to prevent and end homelessness in Surrey Heath Borough and surrounding areas. Skanska’s Mindenhurst team volunteered with The Hope Hub to sort through donations and prepare food parcels for homeless residents and other vulnerable people.
The Basingstoke Canal Society promotes and campaigns for the sustainable future of the Canal as a navigation and public amenity. Skanska’s Mindenhurst volunteers worked with Society volunteers to remove floating pennywort, which causes significant damage to existing plant life and makes it difficult to navigate the canal.
Leisliane Garcia, Skanska Development Director said:
“Lend-a-Hand Week is a fantastic opportunity for our teams to help give something back to the local communities we operate within. This year our volunteers were able to help vulnerable people access food parcels and help maintain a key natural asset in the area. Skanska is committed to helping to improve our local communities.”
You may have been lucky enough to spot bats flying at sunset. One species of bats that live in Mindenhurst is the Common Pipistrelle. This is the smallest of the UK bats and are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. They have dark, golden-brown fur with a paler underside and a dark mask around the face.
They live in tree holes, bat boxes and sometimes roof spaces of houses, mainly feeding on flies and using echolocation to locate their prey. You will see them until October when they go into hibernation. Trees on site will be assessed from the ground by an ecologist to identify if there are any features on the tree that make it suitable to host a bat roost. Trees that are assessed as having suitability for a bat roost will have dusk and dawn surveys carried out on them to further assess if they contain a bat roost.
Sometimes when trees are tall, it is hard to assess the features from the ground. By climbing trees which are harder to assess from the ground, the ecologists can rule out trees that need to have further surveys carried out. From climbing a few trees, they are able to have a vantage point to assess other trees in the area.
Hall & Woodhouse is delighted to have started work on its newest pub at Mindenhurst. Construction work began in mid-July 2021 and is due to finish in February 2022. The pub will then open its doors and provide a warm “Hello & Welcome” to guests in March 2022. It will be a family-focused venue providing great food, drink and hospitality from breakfast to bedtime.
The pub will be called The Frog at Mindenhurst and takes inspiration (and its name!) from the adjacent pond. The site overlooks the village green and is roughly one acre in size.
The inspiration behind the design of the pub and the chosen materials both reflect the colours of the nearby Listed Church Building and the surrounding natural environment. The aim is to blur the line between the interior of the pub and the outdoors.
Guests will see splashes of green throughout the development, and it will have a contemporary look and feel, in keeping with the local housing being built. Key features include an extensive glazed gable end with an inside/outside fireplace and a large veranda.
Inside will offer everything from a warm bar area with a crackling fire, through to a pantry that’s a great option for coffee and cakes, and a dining area where guests can enjoy fabulous food and while away the hours with good company.
For information on Hall & Woodhouse, please visit www.hall-woodhouse.co.uk.
We had some fantastic entries to our Wild Art Competition and really enjoyed seeing all the creative and imaginative works of art that were sent to us.
Thank you so much to everyone who took part, it’s wonderful to see how many young artists there are in the community.
Congratulations to Georgina who won the ‘over 10s’ category and to Kayley who won the ‘under 10s’ category.
Please find below the latest construction update.
1 – A specialist contractor will be removing Japanese Knotweed from the Former RLC Museum Site located on Newfoundland Road. Whilst this is being carried out, the footpath directly in front of the museum will be closed and an alternative footpath will be in place.
2 – Lighting bollards will be installed to the footpath between Deepcut Bridge Road and Mindenhurst Road (located next to the church). During this time, the footpath will be closed and alternative routes to Mindenhurst Road will be via the Village Green/ Brunswick Road and the North Access Roundabout.
3 – Trenching will continue along Blackdown Road and Woodend Road. This is to
enable the installation of new HV cables between the substation located on Deepcut Bridge Road and the substation located on Blackdown Road. During this time, there will be footpath closures in place on Woodend Road and alternatives will be provided. Access will be provided to residents’ driveways for parking
4 – There will be ongoing soft landscaping maintenance to the development, in particular the North Access Roundabout, the Maultway, the Village Green and Mindenhurst Road. These improvements will include planting, grass cutting, pruning, weeding and watering.
5 – Surrey Wildlife Trust will continue their bat surveys across the development.
As you may be aware, we held our first Wild Week last week (27th July – 1st August 2021).
What a great time we have had during Wild Week, getting closer to nature and to our amazing local wildlife. A big thank you to everyone who got involved in all the events and activities throughout the week.
We started the week with a minibeast hunt lead by Surrey Wildlife Trust, where we discovered all sorts of wonderful bugs and creatures that live in the Central SANG.
They also lead a bat walk later in the week, where the group got to see and hear Pipistrelle and Soprano bats as they flew overhead catching insects.
We have also helped identify and count local butterflies, learnt more about our native trees, and we have thoroughly enjoyed seeing the ‘wild art’ entries to our art competition.
Thank you to everyone who took part, and to Surrey Wildlife Trust for making the wildlife walks such a fascinating and fun experience.
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