Oakridge is a village in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, England, and is located in the north of

Basingstoke Basingstoke ( ) is the largest town in the county of Hampshire. It is situated in south-central England and lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon, at the far western edge of The North Downs. It is located north-east of Southa ...

within the ring road. It's more of a suburb than a village, because it's part of Basingstoke.

History

The area was built with mansionettes as part of the rapid expansion of Basingstoke. 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 to have 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. People call it a suburb instead of a village, because it's a part of Basingstoke. Villages in Hampshire Areas of Basingstoke {{Hampshire-geo-stub