It is with great sadness that we announce that Councillor John MacNaught passed away last week.
John was first elected to Woodley Town Council in 2015, when he first stood for election in South Lake South Ward. He followed this up in 2019, when he was elected to the Town Council in his home area of Coronation East Ward.
John was on several committees, including the Town Council’s Planning & Community Committee. He also was an active member of Readibus and the Woodley Volunteer Centre on behalf of the Town Council.
Town Council leader Cllr Keith Baker said: “Woodley residents have lost a very special person in John. Someone who was passionate in everything he did but always shaped by the compassionate and caring attitude that was deeply embedded in his character. Speaking personally, I have lost a very special friend who was always there when you needed help. A perfect gentleman in every way. May he rest in peace and our thoughts are with his family, especially his son and daughter.”
According to Keep Britain Tidy, it has been a record-breaking year as more than 2,000 green spaces across the country got the international quality mark, including Woodford Park for the third year running.
Grounds Maintenance team member Aaron Rogers and Grounds Maintenance Manager Terry Gough
Woodley Town Council is delighted that Woodford Park will be raising a Green Flag Award for the third year running. This is particularly poignant in the current Covid 19 pandemic, when millions of people across the country have seen the value of having great quality green spaces on their doorstep.
The Green Flag Award scheme, managed by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy under licence from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, recognises and rewards well-managed parks and green spaces, setting the benchmark standard for their management across the United Kingdom and around the world.
Woodford Park is one of more than 2,000 sites across the country to collect the award for 2020.
Town Council Leader Cllr Keith Baker is proud that Woodford Park has retained the award for the third year running, providing local residents and visitors with a spectacular green space to enjoy.
“Winning the Green Flag award for the third-year running is a great testament to the hard work of the Town Council staff and the volunteers from the Friends of Woodford Park who help maintain such a beautiful facility. This has been all the more important during the lockdown period of Covid 19, where accessing green spaces was vital for mental and physical health.
The Council is particularly proud that this is the only park in the Wokingham Borough area to have received and retained Green Flag status.”
Commenting on Woodford Park’s success, Keep Britain Tidy Chief Executive Allison Ogden-Newton OBE said: “This year, more than ever, our parks and green spaces have been a lifeline and we know that millions of people have used them to relax, meet friends, exercise or simply escape for a short time.
“It is testament to the incredible dedication and hard work of parks staff and volunteers that, despite the challenges that went along with record numbers of visitors, Woodley Town Council has achieved the highest international standards for Woodford park, demanded by the Green Flag Award.”
Woodley Town Council would like your views on the type of play equipment and features you would like to see in the new play area in Woodford Park behind the Oakwood Centre.
The project is in the planning stages and we are looking for feedback from play area users to help us develop the design brief. Once we have some design proposals we will be carrying out further consultation to choose the final design elements.
If you would like to contribute your views, please click HERE complete the short online survey.
Construction work to create a new community tree garden in Woodley precinct has been completed, with a raised brick wall installed around the four trees outside Waitrose, near the Crockhamwell Road car park.
The completion comes just in time for non-essential shops to reopen, with the Prime Minister announcing more retail outlets will be able to open from 15 June, providing social distancing can be maintained.
The paving slabs around the trees have now been removed, which should solve the problem of the roots dislodging the slabs and creating a potential trip hazard. The project was a joint initiative between Woodley Town Council, the Town Centre Management Initiative and Wokingham Borough Council. The brick wall was the preferred option following feedback from residents to the town council.
New seating will be installed in the area for visitors to the town centre by the town council, as well as a notice board in the same style as those in Woodford Park. It’s hoped it will help smarten up the town centre and help boost the local economy as it responds to the COVID-19 pandemic. Pedestrians will still be able to walk on either side of this new garden to move between shops.
Now the site will be handed over from the borough council’s contractor to the town council, which will plant up the area. The plants and vegetation to be installed in the garden has yet to be decided with current thoughts of a school community garden, a variety of grasses or even the use of moss to absorb carbon from the atmosphere or a mixture of both. Whatever is chosen will be easy to maintain.
“For many years the beautiful tree area at the Crockhamwell Road end has been marred by the serious trip hazard caused by their roots,” said Cllr Keith Baker, Leader of Woodley Town Council. “Several residents experienced shocking injuries as the roots grew and we got to a position something had to be done.
“We ended up with two choices, remove the trees or remove pedestrians from the root areas which are quite extensive. For the town council and many residents, removal of the trees was simply not an option so the concept of surrounding the root areas with a community garden started to emerge.
“As we move into the final stage of this project we need the community to get involved and there have been several suggestions including setting up a Friends of the Town Centre group and involving schools. Climate Change related options are also being considered. The area is sufficiently large enough to cater for all of these three. This has been a highly imaginative solution to a serious injury issue, which not only deals with that issue but is a highly visually pleasing feature. A classic win-win situation.”
“I hope this change will help encourage more people to visit the town centre as more and more shops reopen in the weeks ahead,” said Cllr Pauline Jorgensen, executive member for highways and transport at Wokingham Borough Council. “This solution by our highways team for this historic problem in the precinct should make it safer for pedestrians as well as providing an attractive area for our residents.”
“We have been concerned for some time about the dangerous tree roots causing some very nasty accidents in Woodley,” said Brian Fennelly, Woodley Town Centre Manager. “The new Tree Garden will address this issue and has the potential to be a very attractive feature in Woodley Town Centre.
“We are delighted to be receiving lots of great ideas on how best to landscape the new garden from local residents. Suggestions for a community garden, wild grasses and a moss covering are all very interesting and we look forward to developing these ideas quickly.”
Precinct prior to new tree area Photo: Stewart TurkingtonPhoto: Stewart TurkingtonPhoto: Stewart Turkington
The beehive project at Woodley Town Council’s allotments is proving to be a great success
Reading Road allotment tenants involved in the bee keeping project, which was introduced last year, are under the guidance of bee expert and allotment tenant Steve Cook, who is an official swarm collector. The bee keeping group is a mixture of experienced and new keepers, which has created a lovely friendly, supportive and educative group; as described by Carolyn Davies, a committee member of the Reading Road Allotment Tenants Association.
“There are currently eight active hives at the allotments, however, another allotment tenant recently got her first hive in kit form and is planning to put it together this weekend using a spare donated hive,” said Carolyn.
“One of the allotment tenants offered some old empty hives for the bee keepers. Shortly after he these were left a new swarm of bees moved in and it was very exciting to watch! There is one spare hive left from this donation, which will shortly be populated with bees and we have interest from a further three tenants who are interested in joining the group and cultivating hives.
“I’m hoping we might get a taste of Woodley Allotment’s honey special brand!”
Woodley’s Food bank hit the 20,000 donation this week with Woodley Town Mayor Cllr Kay Gilder providing the milestone donation during the Covid 19 pandemic
20,000 food and toiletries have now been donated to the Woodley Food Bank via drop boxes set up at Woodley’s Covid 19 Response group food drive co-ordinator’s house, since the Covid 19 pandemic started in March.
Ronnie Goodberry, also a key administrator of the group, started collecting donations on 27 March. “When I first started coordinating the donations, I wasn’t aware of the demand upon the food banks and other charities which issue parcels to vulnerable person within the Woodley area. At times, our living room was like a warehouse with a mass of baskets and carrier bags full with tinned items, toiletries, plus other food item; it was actually quite overwhelming at times.”
“We’ve managed to donate a large number of mini toiletries to the nursing welfare charity at the Royal Berkshire Hospital (RBH) and have received bikes, scooters, books, DVDs, games, soft toys and puzzles all donated for those in need.”
Woodley Town Mayor, Cllr Kay Gilder was delighted to be able to donate the 20,000th food item to the scheme, despite being recommended to self- isolate. “I was delighted to be asked for my donation to be the 20,000 given to this wonderful group of people who decided to start this initiative at the start of the lockdown. Although I myself am self-isolating I felt honoured to be asked to help these wonderful people, again it shows what a superb community Woodley is.”
Speaking of the Mayor providing the 20,000 item, Ronnie said: “the Mayor congratulated us for our efforts and was overwhelmed by the generosity shown by Woodley’s residents at this time of crisis. We asked the Mayor to help our group and 1400 members to celebrate the generous donations deposited at the drop boxes outside my house.”
The group is also particularly proud of how it has responded to individual needs and, often, in record time. “We managed to provide one family in isolation with food parcels that were sourced and delivered within two hours of the call going out. We also received donations including new toys, a cake, banners and balloons for a nine-year-old’s birthday as his family were in isolation, alongside food parcels and essentials,” said Ronnie.
Woodley Council Leader Cllr Keith Baker is also a member of the Woodley Covid 19 Response Group. Speaking about the group and its milestone donation, Keith said: “During the weeks, and now months, Woodley residents have come together as a community, demonstrating what a loving and caring group of individuals they all are. The true character of a town only becomes visible when a serious incident occurs and the Covid 19 virus is right up there at the top of the pile. Residents have come together in a remarkable way that most of us have never experienced before. The passion to protect the vulnerable seen by residents working together has been exceptional. Whether it is donating food, collecting prescriptions, going shopping, mini toiletries delivered to RBH, emergency deliveries, donating non-food items or even dismantling a bed and putting up its replacement residents have all played a magnificent part in proving what a wonderful town Woodley is.”
Donations continue to be needed, not just to the Woodley Food Bank through Ronnie’s collection boxes but also at other collection points around Woodley.
“I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to all residents who have donated, helped, and contributed to keep everyone safe and in food and essentials during the Covid 19 pandemic and thank you for your continued support,” added Mayor Kay.
