News » WBC Parish Report for April 2022
 WBC Parish Report for April 2022 6 May, 2022 | |
WBC Parish Report for April 2022Cllr Graham Bridgman (West Berkshire Council, Burghfield and Mortimer Ward)West Berkshire CouncilCouncilThere was no Council meeting this month. The next scheduled meeting is the Annual Meeting on 10 May when the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of Council will be elected, the Executive membership announced by the Leader, committee memberships confirmed or changed, Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen of Committees elected, etc. ExecutiveThe Executive meeting scheduled for 28 April was cancelled - the next scheduled meeting is on 9 June. Cllr Tom Marino joins the ExecutiveThe Leader recently announced that Cllr Tom Marino (Tilehurst & Purley) will be joining the Executive with effect from the Annual Meeting on 10 May, with responsibility for Internal Governance and Strategic Partnerships. Other changes to Portfolio responsibilities include:
Women in PoliticsWe are lucky to have some excellent women serving on West Berkshire Council, but there is always room for more! WBC are hosting a webinar all about women in local politics on June 1 at 19:00, so please share these details with anyone who may be interested. (Pictured: Jo Stewart, Executive Member for Adult Social Care; Hilary Cole, who has held a number of portfolios during her 13 years on the Executive; Lynne Doherty, the Leader of WBC; and Claire Rowles, Chairman of the Health Scrutiny Committee.) This webinar is non-political and it is hoped that this will generate more interest in local politics. The focus of this webinar is engagement with more women and if this event is a success WBC hope to hold regular events in the future that feature other groups of underrepresented people. Anyone wanting to attend the webinar needs to register here, and other information can be found online at westberks.gov.uk/womeninpolitics and westberks.gov.uk/beingacouncillor. EducationSchool places announced for September 2022This year WBC received 1,655 applications from the parents of children starting school in September. Of these, 1,553 children were given a place at their first-choice school, meaning that 94% of children are going to their first choice schools. The WBC website has more information about primary school places and the next steps for parents including how to make a late application, waiting lists and the answers to other FAQs. There is also more detail about this year's place allocations. CommunityAwards ceremony for Community ChampionsThe latest recipients of Community Champion Awards were invited to an awards ceremony at Shaw House last month. Winners in the 2021 awards - which recognise people who have done something special for their local community over the past year - were announced in January. You can find out more about the winners and what they have done for their communities on the website. The ceremony was a chance to celebrate their community spirit, and for the Chairman and Leader of the Council to say thank you in person to these unsung heroes. Cost of Living£150 Government Energy RebateHM Government announced that around 20 million households in England in Council Tax bands A-D will get a £150 rebate from April. WBC are working hard to make the £150 payments to customers who paid their Council Tax by Direct Debit to them by the same Direct Debit soon. Customers in Bands A to D who do not pay by Direct Debit will be contacted shortly with information on how they can claim their Rebate. BusinessNew Business WebsiteThe new Business West Berkshire website is now live. This website is intended to give businesses all the latest information and support channels they need to start up, relocate, and grow in West Berkshire. As a business, there can be an overwhelming amount of information coming from different sources when you want to find out about what a place has to offers. With that in mind WBC aimed to create a one stop shop - a consolidated essential information hub for businesses in the district. This new website focuses on why you should invest in West Berkshire, business support services available, the local economy, and current projects the council is undertaking. In the coming months and years, WBC aim to introduce more features to the website to make it a business community for all existing and potential West Berkshire businesses. All businesses should look on the site and if anyone has any feedback or areas of improvements, please email chloe.guo1@westberks.gov.uk. eCargo bikes available to loanNew eCargo bikes are being offered to local businesses in the district to try out as part of a new environment scheme. Two new bikes are available with large capacity 700 litre cool boxes to hire with a third bike will be available at a later date. These are eye-catching vehicles that can be branded with vinyl if the business wishes to, so long as they are removed on return. Ideas for their use could include:
The bikes are available to support the vision that West Berkshire’s town centres are innovative and entrepreneurial while promoting sustainability, biodiversity and healthy living. Anyone wishing to enquire further can contact the team via environment@westberks.gov.uk £696k paid to local businesses through the ARG Challenge FundThe Council’s Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) Challenge Fund has come to a close, and WBC have been able to distribute £696,601 to 44 local businesses through the scheme, following a very competitive assessment process. The successful applicants can now use the funding to implement the projects they proposed to recover from the impacts of Covid-19 and stimulate economic growth. There was a strong focus from the applications received on purchasing new environmentally friendly equipment to expand services and reduce carbon emissions, along with digital assets to reach new customers or improve efficiency. All 44 projects will be taking shape over the next few months with a big impact for the applicants and on the wider local economy. Many have committed to using local suppliers which will mean the funding continues to circulate within West Berkshire. EnvironmentThank you to all the Great British Spring Cleaners!Mortimer had a very successful Spring Clean litter pick in March and WBC has issued congratulations to all those who went out into their communities to clean-up as part of the Great British Spring Clean. Across West Berkshire communities have been organising their own litter picks - and WBC have been supporting some of these. In addition to the Mortimer clean up, the WBC waste team collected more than 100 bags of litter, supporting groups in Ashampstead, Bucklebury, Chievely, Pangbourne, Shaw Cum Donnington, Streatley, Sulhampstead Tilehurst Ufton Nervet and Woolhampton to name just a few. This included loaning out litter picking equipment and arranging the pick-up of all the rubbish collected - as well organising their own team litter-pick! Over the past year, together with the Council’s waste contractor, WBC have supported 46 community litter picking events. There are 160 adult litter pickers and 70 kids litter pickers that can be borrowed by community groups – you can find out more and apply to borrow the equipment here. Everyone has a responsibility to keep local communities clean. Please remember if public bins are full to take your rubbish home with you and recycle as much as you can. Stamping out fly-tippingThe Public Protection Partnership are reminding anyone having a spring clean help stamp out fly tipping by always checking that anyone taking waste away has a waste carriers licence – if someone’s waste carrier isn’t registered and their waste is fly-tipped they could be facing a £200 fixed penalty notice. Everyone can help by following these pointers:
It’s really simple to check to see if someone offering to take away your waste is registered, just enter their details in the register of waste carriers, brokers and dealers. Summer opening hours at Newtown Road Recycling CentreExtended summer opening hours at the Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC) at Newtown Road, Newbury have begun. The longer opening time means the HWRC will be open until 20:00 on Thursdays between April and September each year. On other days, the site will open as normal from 09:00 to 18:00. There is more about the new, longer opening hours here. Levelling UpWest Berkshire is to receive over £1.6m from HM Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) to help level up the community – from regenerating run down high streets to fighting anti-social behaviour. The funding also includes free tutoring, digital training and flexible courses to help adults with low-level maths skills get back into work, as well as measures to get more young people into high-skilled jobs. The £2.6bn UKSPF is to deliver HMB’s stated aim to level up the United Kingdom – regenerating communities, tackling economic decline, and reversing geographical inequalities to ensure that everyone can fulfil their potential, via the local authorities and leaders who best know what their communities need. Current Consultations
Parish MattersPlanning NoticesFurther to previous items about this, there has been some clarification – that the date for responses to planning applications will be 21 days from the date that the orange notice goes up and not before. There are still some issues to be ironed out (eg about responses other than by email), but this is helpful. BurghfieldReading Quarry Energy Recovery CentreI am told that this may reach Eastern Area Planning Committee on 1 June – let’s see if it does. Recreation Ground PavilionThis application may also be on the EAPC agenda on 1 June – it may be a busy meeting! The Willink School - Smarter Grid Solutions’ smart energy systemSmarter Grid Solutions (SGS), an energy software firm based in Glasgow, has connected The Willink’s solar panels to a computer system that can monitor and manage energy production and use (as part of SGS’s work with WBC, which has also connected Market Street offices and the Northcroft Leisure Centre to the system). SGS’s work with WBC and Reading Borough Council forms part of the ADEPT (Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning & Transport) SMART Places Live Lab programme, a two-year £22.9 million project funded by the Department for Transport – monitoring and managing power will help WBC to hit its net-zero carbon dioxide emissions targets and keep its bills as low as possible for taxpayers. Stratfield MortimerThe Street footwayThe WBC contractors missed their window of opportunity to avoid the bird nesting season and cut the holly hedges back, so this is now planned for September (along with some pavement patching work that had been agreed).
Graham Bridgman Council Member for Burghfield and Mortimer Deputy Leader of Council and Executive Member for Health and Wellbeing 4 May 2022 [+ go back...] | |
