Out of hours help and opening hours

During the festive break Wokingham Borough Council’s main Shute End offices will be closed on bank holidays and operating reduced hours on some other days:

• Friday 24 December – 9am to 3pm 
• Saturday 25 December (Christmas Day) – Closed
• Sunday 26 December  (Boxing Day) – Closed
• Monday 27 December (Bank holiday – Christmas Day substitute day) – Closed
• Tuesday 28 December (Bank Holiday – Boxing Day substitute day) – Closed
• Wednesday 29 December – Normal opening hours  (9am to 5pm)
• Thursday 30 December – Normal opening hours (9am to 5pm)
• Friday 31 December (New Year’s Eve)- 9am to 3pm
• Saturday 1 January 2022 (New Year’s Day) – Closed
• Sunday 2 January 2022 – Closed
• Monday 3 January 2022 (Bank holiday – New Year’s Day substitute day) – Closed
• Tuesday 4 January 2022 – Normal opening hours (9am to 5pm)

If you need Wokingham Borough Council outside these times, please use these emergency out of hours numbers for certain matters.

• Emergency out of hours – 0800 212 111
• Social services emergencies out of hours – 01344 351999
• Council properties, out of ours repairs (general repairs) – 0800 515287
• Council properties, heating repairs and gas repairs – 0800 3898789
• Community mental health crisis team – 0300 365 9999

Library opening times

All Wokingham Borough Libraries will be closed on 25 December to 28th December and 1 January to 3 January 2022.

On Friday 24 December and Friday 31 December, there will be early closure of 1pm at Twyford Library and early closure of 3pm at Wokingham, Lower Earley, Winnersh and Woodley Libraries. Wargrave Library will be closed on both dates.

Finchampstead Library will be closed from 1pm on 24 December to 3 January inclusive.

Read the Council’s find a library webpage for more details on when your nearest one is open.

Have your say on bus services

Bus routes in Wokingham town could be extended to serve new housing under a proposal that is part of a review of bus routes across Wokingham borough.

Wokingham Borough Council subsidises most of the services it is reviewing. The Council is now seeking resident’s views on the proposed new bus routes, along with changes to some existing services, because existing contracts end in May so new ones must be drawn up soon.

The survey, launched last week, reviews the existing bus service across the borough to look at what is currently working for residents and what might need changing. The Council is already proposing several changes to better serve residents.

Proposed changes

The council suggests extending a circular section of Thames Valley Buses’ 121 route, which covers the Norreys estate off London Road, to serve new homes off Diamond Jubilee Way and Oak Drive.

A new route, bus 126 is proposed that could be funded by companies building new homes in the council’s North Wokingham major development. The new route 126 would form a loop serving the Norreys estate via Binfield Road. This would return to the town centre via Toutley Road, Matthewgreen Road, Milton Road, Holt Lane and Reading Road, stopping at both The Emmbrook School and The Holt School on the way.

The existing 122/123 routes from the town centre to Woosehill, extending to Emmbrook in the off-peak, would be unchanged, as would the 128/129 route from Reading to Wokingham town via Twyford. However, the latter’s Saturday service between Twyford and Maidenhead could be reviewed.

Minor changes are proposed to the 125/A/B routes to ensure consistency while the 124, an off-peak service covering London Road and Easthampstead Road, could be withdrawn as it has only one or two passengers daily and might be better served by voluntary groups.

Reading Buses’ Leopard services 3, 8 and 9 from Reading to Shinfield, Arborfield, Finchampstead and Wokingham would be mostly unchanged, although it might be possible to run buses between Arborfield and Wokingham twice per hour instead of hourly.

Again, this could be funded by housebuilders working in the council’s major development at the former Arborfield Garrison.  Routes 8 & 9 may also be changed with funding available from the Shinfield and Spencers Wood developments.

The consultation is open until 16 January and residents can respond via the Engage Wokingham Borough platform. For anyone needing help with the survey, please contact Wokingham Borough Council by calling 0118 974 6000 or emailing myjourney@wokingham.gov.uk.