The roofs of the new Churchill retirement flats have been tiled.

The hoardings show how enjoyable retirement could be. Show apartments will be available to look round in the Spring.

It’s been a warm winter, and the daffodils in front of the Fairacre Retail Park sign have got an early start.

Looking across the car park, Homebase and Vineys and A&H have been demolished and some of the old concrete has been smashed and pulverised into piles.

The retained material will help replace gravel that would otherwise need quarrying and bringing to the site.

The FairAcres Phase 2 demolition continues. A small corner of building is all that remains of the original 1970s retail park.

Piles of rubble from the demolition are awaiting reuse in the 2020s retail park. The new shops will include a Lidl, and should be around for another 50 years, if things go well, before retail parks become outdated.

The new retirement development on Ock Street is taking shape, and the rafters have been added. The development will comprise 39 privately owned self-contained apartments for the over 60s.

The buildings seem to take every inch of space around the perimeter. At the centre will be a green space.

The Churchill retirement homes development on Ock Street has reached a couple of storeys high in October.

It looks even higher at the rear of the site.

Meanwhile the Fairacres Phase 2 demolition has not far to go.

Pictures around the site shows how it will look with the larger car park enclosed in the centre of shopping centre. All those cars will leave by the existing route. People did raise concerns when the plans were authorised about how slow it will be getting out during rush hour.

A large crane is helping to build the Churchill retirement apartments where the Vauxhall dealership once sold Corsas on Ock Street.

There is also a large For Sale sign helping to balance the crane.

Last month when I looked the inner walls were two blocks high. The inner walls are now about seven blocks high and the redbrick external part of the cavity walls are being added.