With the first aspect of the Watford Riverwell scheme set to open next month, we cast an eye over the entirety of the ambitious £350 million regeneration project to see how work is progressing.

Trade City - as it has been dubbed - is predicted to create 180 jobs in the locality when it opens for business in August, providing 70,000 square feet of “new business space” in the process.

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SEE ALSO: Plans for first Watford Health Campus homes officially submitted

Public exhibitions held over the last couple of weeks have given Watford residents the opportunity to review the latest plans and talk to those involved in the project.

Watford Observer:

Full planning approval for the “Woodlands” residential area was secured this month, with construction on 95 flats across three blocks on the land in Willow Lane due to commence in the autumn.

There will also be communal gardens built with a “woodland setting” and spaces provided for 61 cars and 95 bicycles.

Watford Observer:

Mayor of Watford Dorothy Thornhill said new homes had always been “at the heart” of the scheme.

She said: “The entire Riverwell project will transform acres of disused and derelict land into a thriving new community for our town built around the River Colne.”

A clean-up operation of the river and its banks has also now begun, paving the way for 4.5 green space to be opened up.

In total, 500 homes will be provided across two estates named Woodlands and Waterside, as well as a 250-unit “care community” and a new primary school.

Plans for shops, restaurants, supermarkets and a hotel have also been mooted.

Formerly known as the Health Campus, Watford Borough Council and developer Kier Property’s project to transform 29 acres of land near Watford General Hospital over a 15-20 year period was recently renamed Watford Riverwell to “reflect the importance of the River Colne that runs through the site”.

However this has led to concerns that the proposed hospital improvements, which the scheme initially centred around, could be forgotten as other aspects of the development spring up around the land set aside for it.

Plans for the redevelopment of the hospital are yet to materialise, with West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust currently compiling an outline business case in tandem with detailed design work. This is expected to take around 18 months.

However on the Riverwell website, readers are informed that phased work on the hospital “could start as soon as 2020”.