Watchmoor

Watchmoor
Shire county		Surrey
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Camberley
Postcode district	GU15
Dialling code	01276
Police	Surrey
Fire	Surrey
Ambulance	South East Coast
UK Parliament	Surrey Heath
List of places UK England Surrey 51°19′28″N 0°45′46″W / 51.3244°N 0.7627°W / 51.3244; -0.7627

Watchmoor is an area in

Watchmoor Park Superstore and the Watchmoor Reserve nature area are accessed via a completely separate road mainly hidden from public view by trees, shrubs and hedges. The two sections are only connected via a pedestrian footpath.

Watchmoor Park business park

Watchmoor Park business park was developed in the late 1980s and the early 1990s by the asset management company London and Metropolitan. The site covers 45 acres and has large open spaces and lakes. It consists of 255,000 sq ft of office space spread between six self contained office buildings along with a separate business centre for small office users.

It is home to the offices of several large companies including

.

In September 2017 Frasers Property purchased Watchmoor Park business park from Oaktree Capital Management for £42 million.^[1]

It is managed by the property management company MAPP.

Watchmoor Point industrial estate

Watchmoor Point industrial estate is located adjacent to the Watchmoor Park business park on Watchmoor Rad accessed via Riverside Way.

Sainsbury's Watchmoor Park Superstore

In 1987 J Sainsbury plc and London and Metropolitan Estates Ltd planned a 37,000 sq ft Sainsbury's supermarket and an adjacent Homebase store with 650 car parking spaces on the part of the Watchmoor Park site which used to be a household rubbish tip. However, the Homebase plan was later abandoned, which was opened in 1990 off The Meadows roundabout instead (the Homebase store has since been closed and replaced by a Next store).

In the end, a 36,000 sq ft Sainsbury's supermarket with 751 car parking spaces was opened on 23 June 1992 by the then Chairman

and Sushi Gourmet also have concessions inside the store. There is a petrol filling station at the far end of the site.

In 2013, Sainsbury's tried to demolish its store and re-build it to over 100,000 sq ft to better compete with the Tesco Extra in The Meadows,^[2] but this application was unsuccessful.

Watchmoor Reserve

As part of the Sainsbury's development, a 13-acre nature area, Watchmoor Reserve, was created. It is owned by

. Built on the site of scrubland, it was opened in Autumn 1992 and houses an outdoor classroom for children, trees, sculptures, a butterfly habitat area, a turfed viewing mound, three ponds and a 70x30 metre lake with reed beds and its own bird sanctuary island. It is located at the far end of the Sainsbury's site behind the petrol filling station and has a small car park consisting of around 13 car parking spaces.

Transport

Watchmoor is located half a mile from Junction 4 of the M3 motorway.

In 2017 a footpath and cycleway was built between Blackwater railway station and the Sainsbury's supermarket running along the A331 Blackwater Valley Road. There is also an alternative pedestrian route to the area from Blackwater railway station via the Blackwater Valley Path, going across the bridge over the Blackwater River which was constructed in 2008 to the Hawley Meadows Car Park, at the junction at the entrance to Riverside Way which was also constructed in 2017.

There is an infrequent bus route to the Sainsbury's store from Camberley town centre subsidised by Sainsbury's itself as a condition for the approval of the 2004 extension to its supermarket. However, there is no bus route to Riverside Way, the entrance to the Watchmoor Park business park and Watchmoor Point industrial estate.

See also

• Camberley
• Blackwater railway station
• Blackwater Valley Path

References

• JS Journal December 1987 p4
• JS Journal July 1992 p13
• Council rejects 'David and Goliath' Sainsbury's application

External links

• Watchmoor Park business park
• Sainsbury's Watchmoor Park Superstore
• Surrey Heath County Council Family Information Service Watchmoor Reserve
• Surrey Heath Borough Council Open Spaces
• Blackwater Valley - Blackwater Nature Reserve