Woodley Town Council is delighted to announce that Woodford Park has received Green Flag status amid high commendation from the judges and is recognised as one of the UK’s best green spaces.

Woodford Park is the first park in the Wokingham Borough area to receive Green Flag status, and joins other green spaces awarded recognition across the UK.

The park is among a record-breaking 1,883 UK parks and green spaces that have received a prestigious Green Flag Award – the mark of a quality park or green space.

Green Flag award

This international award, now into its third decade, is a sign to the public that the space boasts the highest possible environmental standards, is beautifully maintained and has excellent visitor facilities.

Town Mayor, Sam Rahmouni, said: “We are absolutely delighted to receive a Green Flag Award for first time. We know how much quality green spaces matter to residents and visitors, and this award celebrates the dedication that goes into maintaining Woodford Park to such a high standard with Woodley Town Council and the Friends of Woodford Park’s support.”

International Green Flag Award scheme manager Paul Todd said: “We are delighted to be celebrating another record-breaking year for the Green Flag Award scheme, with more Green Flags awarded this year than last year. Each flag honours the thousands of staff and volunteers who work tirelessly to maintain the high standards demanded by the Green Flag Award. We are proud to have so many wonderful green spaces in the UK for people to enjoy, and hope that next year, we award even more flags.”

Commendation

The judges were particularly delighted with the changes made from last year’s visit to Woodford Park and commented that “it was a privilege to judge this site on their second year of judging”. Key areas highlighted include the entrance to the park with the decorative gates, memorial and decorative beds being welcoming and inviting, as well as the new signs in the park.

Healthy, safe and security was also commended, alongside how well-maintained and clean the park is, with very high standards for litter and dog waste.  Woodford Park was also applauded for how the environment is managed with minimal chemical use and also the investment in the park’s biodiversity landscape; particularly the regeneration of the lake and the further work planned.

“This site really delivers a great amount for the community as a resource.  It is really well used by a wide range of community groups, some of whom organise regular events that provide a focus for community spirit in Woodley and enhance the area as a place to live and play. Really impressed with the Friends group and other community groups who are positive, enthusiastic and make a real contribution to the standard of the park. The paddling pool is an excellent facility for small children. The youth centre and skate ramps cater for young people. Provision for active sports is good. There are lots of benches for the elderly,” the report cited.

Proud team

Bill Soane, Chairman of Woodley Town Council’s Leisure Services Committee comments: “We are delighted with the Green Flag award and it has been many years of hard work from the team and I would like to thank our previous Head Groundsman, Kevin Weller for his work towards this award during his nearly 40 years of service, our current Grounds Maintenance Manager, Terry Gough, his team and the Friends of Woodford Park who have all contributed to create such a wonderful green space and put Woodley firmly on the map.”

Woodley Town Council will be displaying the flag in the park in the near future.

Public toilet

Following the 2015 Woodley Resident’s Survey, conducted by HMR, an independent research and consultancy service, Woodley Town Council has responded to local resident requests for a public toilet and works to install it are currently underway. The unit is due to arrive on 30 July; however, electrical and water connections will need to be completed.

The decision to spend funds on a public toilet in the town centre were a result of the independent survey.

Resident’s Survey

Conducted both as a doorstep survey and as an online self-completion survey, it received feedback from over 924 local residents, and 18 users of Woodley facilities who did not live in Woodley. Over 60% of respondents wanted a public toilet to be provided.

62.9% asked for a public toilet in Woodley, 29.8% said no and 7.3% responded with ‘don’t know’.

Comments made during the survey were frequently based on people’s feelings about the needs of people with health conditions, disabilities, or people with young children who needed to have easy access to a toilet.

While Woodley Town Council is aware that the installation of the toilet will not please everyone, its responsibility is to the local residents and, in this case, the majority of residents requested a toilet.

The public toilet will be positioned in the southern area of the town centre, near to Waitrose car park.

Full details of the survey can be accessed on the Woodley Town Council website: www.woodley.gov.uk

Mayor attends art viewing – Unmasked

On Thursday 5^th July, Woodley Town Council Mayor Sam Rahmouni attended Waingels School’s annual Year 13 Art Private View, ‘Unmasked’; a celebration of very talented Art & Photography student’s coursework and exam pieces.

One of the students, Zoe Binden, looked at the history of pattern in her coursework project. She studied the work of William Morris and even took a trip to the John Lewis heritage centre to observe first hand some of the iconic prints and patterns we have furnished our houses, hotels and even the Titanic with over the years. She has created a modern approach to wallpaper using traditional repeating methods as well as printing processes to digitally compose her beautiful final pieces.

Another Waingel student, Samson, spent his Photography coursework project looking at the idea of ‘Destroy’. He took his photographs in a variety of venues including bomb shelters along the coast in France and old abandoned outhouses. There was something sad he noticed about the way we so quickly disregard objects, buildings and landscapes once they are no longer used. Samson spent a long time ‘destroying’ the frames he presented his work in – using charring methods as well as physically building the frames himself from scrap materials.

Mayor Sam Rahmouni had the opportunity to see these and other unique pieces of art created by the Year 13 pupils and was very impressed with the dedication and the design process the students used and explored.

Mayor presents mini medics at The Bulmershe School with awards

At a recent presentation at The Bulmershe School in Woodley, Mayor Sam Rahmouni presented certificates to Year 9 students who had participated in and been awarded for First Aid in the Community.

“Over the past term a group of our year 9 students have been carving out their place in the community by becoming fully trained ‘Mini Medics!’,” commented Katie Gaetan, First Aid Trainer and member of the school inclusion team.

Woodley Town Council is setting up its own Community Speedwatch and is looking for volunteers to join the team

Following a tried and tested scheme in Berkshire, Woodley is the latest council to join and run its own Community Speedwatch, using its own specially-purchased equipment.

The ‘black box’ will be fitted securely for a seven-day period on perceived problem roads and will record data including the date and time, direction of travel and vehicle speed.  This data will be analysed and if speeding is verified, a Speedwatch team will be sent to deploy a radar speed detector with video camera to record and identify the speeding vehicles.  This information will then be passed to the police for further consideration and action.

Working with the local police

Speedwatch is a police-approved and supported scheme. Woodley Town Council is looking for volunteers to help setup and operate the equipment on selected roads. Volunteers will be required to spend an hour at a time using the Council’s equipment and full training will be provided. Local residents are also invited to highlight problem roads, where consistent speeding is witnessed.

Councillor Tom Barker commented: “Many residents are concerned about speeding on Woodley’s roads and now that we have the means to check this, we need residents to tell us where vehicle speeding is a problem and to volunteer to help operate Speedwatch.”

To join the Speedwatch team or make them aware of speeding hot spots, please contact Woodley Town Council on 01189 690356 or admin@woodley.gov.uk

We are delighted that Woodley pre-school is now in its new purpose-built building, having completed its Ofsted inspection. Woodley Town Council is currently undertaking work to create a safe pathway from the car park at Woodford Park Leisure Centre to the new building. We remind pedestrians to be careful during this period and for parents to continue to use the parking facilities at the leisure centre for everyone’s safety.

A new Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Woodley were elected at the annual meeting on Tuesday 8 May.

Councillor Sam Rahmouni was elected Mayor and Councillor David Stares was elected Deputy Mayor.

Pictured: Councillor David Stares, Deputy Mayor (left) and Councillor Sam Rahmouni, Mayor (right).

Please click below to view the results of the local elections held on Thursday 3 May 2018.

Woodley Town Council

Wokingham Borough Council 

Visitors to Woodford Park will have seen lots of activity over the last few weeks;

• The Friends of Woodford Park are working in the Rotary Garden behind the Oakwood Centre, pruning shrubs and preparing new sensory shrub beds. The Council’s Grounds Team are also preparing the ground in the garden and other areas for wild flowers.

• Overgrown areas around the lake have been cut back back by the Grounds Team as part of the lake regeneration project. This includes removal of the overgrown hedge along the mound at the eastern end of the lake. This has let lots of light onto the lake at this end and we have frog spawn in the lake for what we think is the first time in over 30 years. Tree works have been carried out by a contractor which included the removal of some trees that were in poor condition and/or were damaging the lake and island banks. We will be creating new habitat on the islands with shrubs and duck nesting boxes made from the logs of any trees that are felled. We are awaiting the outcome of a funding bid to carry out the next stage of the project which will include the creation of a shallow wildlife area, boardwalk and dipping platform, reed beds, native flowering plants and repairs to the lake banks. Click Here for more information on the lake regeneration project.

• The old horticultural shed has been replaced with the new Woodley Pre School building. The school has leased the land from the Council and will operate from the new building from April 2018.