Didcot was awarded Garden Town status in 2015, making it one of a handful of places in England earmarked for significant, coordinated growth. The idea was never just to build more houses. The designation came with a programme of investment covering jobs, transport, green space, community facilities and town centre improvements, all managed jointly by South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Councils alongside Oxfordshire County Council and a range of other partners.
A decade on, some of it has happened. Some of it is underway. And some of it has moved considerably slower than residents would have liked. Here is a plain English breakdown of where things actually stand.
The infrastructure that is already being built
The biggest thing happening in Didcot right now, in physical terms, is the infrastructure scheme connecting Didcot to Culham. This is a £332.5 million programme funded through a combination of Homes England grants, developer contributions and council capital budgets, and it is now in construction.
The scheme has four main elements. The first is the dualling of the A4130 between the Milton Interchange and Didcot, which will add capacity to one of the most congested stretches of road in the area. The second is the Didcot Science Bridge, a three-span structure crossing the A4130, the Great Western mainline railway and Milton Road, which will connect the former power station land to the rest of the town. Enabling works for the Science Bridge began in March 2026. The third is a new 3.6km link road between Didcot and Culham, including a new bridge over the River Thames. The fourth is a bypass of Clifton Hampden village.
When complete, the scheme will also deliver 19km of new walking and cycling routes and create the conditions for more direct, faster bus services. It is a major piece of infrastructure that has been a decade in development, and the fact that it is now in the ground is significant.
The Broadway and town centre
The Broadway has been struggling for some years, as it has in many market towns. The Garden Town programme includes a retail recovery strategy aimed at bringing more activity back to the town centre. One of the most visible projects is the redevelopment of 116-120 Broadway, a derelict block of properties on the main shopping street. Enabling works were due to begin in March 2026 with the aim of delivering affordable flats above and community use on the ground floor, with practical completion targeted for late 2026 subject to contract decisions.
There is also work underway on public art installations around the town, new wayfinding signage and lighting improvements along the Cow Lane connection between the town centre and the station. These are smaller projects but they add up, and the Cow Lane corridor in particular has always felt like a weak link between Didcot Parkway and the rest of the town.
Green spaces
A £500,000 fund has been allocated to improve four green spaces across Didcot, with work expected to focus initially on Ladygrove and Station Road. A nature trail has already been completed in southeast Didcot. The aim is to make the town greener, more walkable and more connected, with a particular focus on areas that have historically had fewer amenities.
The Garden Party, which the councils have run for the last couple of summers, drew over 4,000 people in its second year, which gives some indication of the appetite locally for community activity in the town.
What has been slower than planned
The honest part of this blog is acknowledging where things have not gone to plan, because residents deserve a clear picture.
The GP surgery at Great Western Park is the most significant example. Great Western Park is a development of over 3,300 homes and has four new schools, community facilities and parks, but no doctors' surgery. The project has been talked about for well over a decade. In December 2025, the Integrated Care Board confirmed it would no longer be progressing with its development partner Assura following a full review of costings, prompting the council to write to the Chancellor and the Secretary of State for Health expressing its frustration. A new path forward has not yet been confirmed publicly. For residents on Great Western Park and the surrounding area, this remains a live and pressing issue.
More broadly, the Garden Town programme has been revised twice since 2017, in 2022 and again in 2025, which reflects both a maturing understanding of what is achievable and the reality that large-scale urban programmes rarely run entirely to schedule.
What it means for people buying in Didcot
The infrastructure picture matters for anyone buying in Didcot, particularly around Nobel Park and Great Western Park where much of the new housing is concentrated. The connections being built now, the Science Bridge, the Culham crossing, the new walking and cycling routes, will change how the town functions over the next few years. The Broadway improvements will affect the feel of the town centre.
None of this is a reason on its own to buy or not to buy in a particular part of Didcot. Property decisions should always be based on individual circumstances and proper advice. But understanding what is planned and what is already happening gives buyers a clearer picture of the area they are moving into.
Frequently Asked Questions
Didcot was awarded Garden Town status in 2015 as part of a government programme to support coordinated, well-planned growth in towns across England. The designation brought funding and a formal programme of improvements covering housing, transport, green space, community facilities and town centre regeneration. It is overseen by a joint advisory board including South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Councils, Oxfordshire County Council and other local partners. The programme has been updated twice since it was launched, most recently in 2025.