Oakridge is a village in Hampshire

Hampshire

Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, and is located in the north of Basingstoke

Basingstoke

Basingstoke is a town in northeast Hampshire, in south central England. It lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon. It is southwest of London, northeast of Southampton, southwest of Reading and northeast of the county town, Winchester. In 2008 it had an estimated population of...

 within the ringroad.

History

The area was built with mansionettes as part of the rapid expansion of Basingstoke.

Unfortunately, the new estate did not age well. The area became increasingly run down and proved hard to let. In 1997, a group called the Oakridge Central Regeneration group was set up with the intention of having the estate redeveloped. HTA Architects were appointed and planning permission was granted in 2000. The redevelopment was built in phases: Phase 1 consisted of mostly terraced housing, Phase 2 consisted of three-storey apartments and Phase 3 was built by a different contractor. 149 homes were replaced with 299, increasing the density of the area, but also green space.

As part of the original planning, a 13-storey tower block, Oakridge Tower, was planned for demolition. After local pressure, it has been retained.