A major regeneration near Watford General Hospital is beginning to take shape after the first residents moved into their new apartments.

Watford Riverwell is a huge development in the town delivering 1,000 homes, a primary school, a hotel, shops, a park, and a retirement village.

In May, a ‘moving in’ event was held, attended by the Mayor of Watford Peter Taylor and the managing director of regeneration at Kier Property, Andrew Storey.

They were joined by Dr Farrukh Mohammad, an ear, nose, and throat specialist at Watford General, who has purchased his first home at Woodlands.

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Mayor of Watford Peter Taylor with Dr Mohammad. Photo: Eric Johnson

A ribbon cutting ceremony was held at Maple Lodge which has 33 apartments. Woodlands will deliver a further 62 flats, including 29 affordable homes to be provided by Watford Community Housing.

Mr Storey says nearly 50 per cent of the homes in Woodlands have been purchased.

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Mr Taylor said: “It was good to meet Dr Mohammed who perfectly illustrates what the Watford Riverwell regeneration project is all about - delivering new homes to address our housing needs here in Watford and make sure that local people get access onto the housing ladder.

“It is great to see how this former industrial area being transformed into a new neighbourhood. I’m pleased about the work that had been done to clean up the River Colne, making our town a greener place and the creation of new public green spaces for the benefit of the whole community.”

The River Colne has undergone an extensive clean up as part of a £6m project. A new footbridge was installed across the river in February, creating access to a new park. The park is due to open in the autumn.

Elsewhere, planning was granted in February for a seven-storey car park which will have 1,450 spaces – 1,300 of which are for staff and visitors to the hospital. It will be partly built on the allotment site.

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The multi-storey car park