THE man overseeing Didcot’s regeneration says 2010 will be a key year.

District councillor John Cotton said by this time next year, work should have started on the 3,340-home Great Western Park, contractors will be improving the forecourt at Didcot Parkway station and the town will know more about Orchard Centre owner Hammerson’s plans to expand the shopping centre.

After an 18-month halt on major building projects, the first year of the new decade is set to herald major changes to the town.

Mr Cotton said: “Things have just not happened so far because of what has happened in the housing market.

“Everything around Didcot is predicated on moving forward with housing.

“The fact we will see Great Western Park getting off the ground will bring a real fillip for the town and hopefully lead to really concrete proposals for some of the more exciting projects over the next 10 or 15 years.”

Later this month, developer Taylor Wimpey is set to submit a planning application outlining what the estate will look like.

The developer is still negotiating with the district and county councils over when it will pay segments of its agreed £65m investment in local infrastructure, including how many homes should be completed before new primary schools are built.

Once planning permission is secured, work could start on preparing the site for housebuilding in the autumn, with residents moving in by spring 2011.

Meanwhile, the publication of South Oxfordshire and The Vale of White Horse district councils’ core strategies will bring greater certainty as to where other houses will be built by 2026. Planners at South Oxfordshire are set to recommend at least 1,000 homes are built north of Ladygrove, rejecting alternative plans to build houses south of the town, between Didcot and the Hagbournes, while the Vale has earmarked land next to Great Western Park for another 2,300 homes.

The publication of the Didcot Area Action Plan in the summer will detail further plans for the town’s redevelopment, including how the various new housing estates will integrate with the rest of the town, future leisure provision, and which areas of Broadway are likely to be devoted to housing.

An extension to the Orchard Centre, including a bigger Sainsbury’s, could also be on the drawing board by the end of 2010.

Meanwhile, retail development company Hammerson has listed Didcot among its top sites to invest in this year.