We are still experiencing antisocial behaviour in the Garden of Remembrance in Woodford Park.
We are in regular contact with the local police team to try and deal with this.
If you have any concerns about antisocial behaviour please let us know and also contact the police team via the 101 phone number or via the Thames Valley Police website.
The old pergola and wisteria at the front of Woodford Park Leisure Centre will be removed during the week beginning 29th March.
The structure has deteriorated over time and will be removed to keep the area safe. We are using this as an opportunity to smarted up that area with new planting in the flower beds and making use of the space for outdoor exercise classes.
Keep an eye out for more information on this via WPLC’s Facebook Page.
Wokingham Borough Council’s road resurfacing team will be returning to several sites across the borough for anti-skid works from 29th March, with overnight works, 8pm to 6am at Butts Hill Road and Headley Road.
To find out the exact schedule, please click HERE.
This is an ambitious project which builds on from the positive partnership developed between Wokingham Borough Council and the voluntary, charity and community sector during the Covid-19 pandemic.
During the past year, it has become clear residents have really benefitted from the coordinated way the council and the voluntary, charity and community sector have worked together to ensure people get the help and support they need. The hub will bring a number of voluntary, charity and community organisations under one roof. The first hub will be based at Waterford House in Wokingham, and it will provide high quality information, advice and support to enable people to access the right services to meet their individual needs and circumstances at the right time.
This is the first hub of its kind in Wokingham, and there are aspirations to roll out further hubs elsewhere in the borough during the coming years, as identified in Wokingham Borough Council’s voluntary and community sector strategy agreed in 2020.
Wokingham Borough Council has submitted a planning application to refurbish Waterford House, ready for the Charity and Community Hub to open its doors later this year. Waterford House would be redecorated, and office space reconfigured to make it more appropriate for the voluntary, charity and community organisations moving into the building. Proposals also includes an application for a change of use – details can be found on the council’s website at www.wokingham.gov.uk and search ‘planning applications’ (planning application number: 210797). Subject to planning permission, refurbishment work would start in the summer.
Cllr Charles Margetts, executive member for health, wellbeing and adult services, said: “The Wokingham Charity and Community Hub is the first of its kind in the borough and I am delighted we are making progress and turning our ambitions into reality. “Planning for this hub has got off the ground thanks to the partnership approach between the borough council and the voluntary, charity and community organisations. The first hub’s location is at the heart of the town centre. It will allow the voluntary, charity and community sector to work closely together, sharing resources where possible and delivering services as close as possible to people in their own communities, which is great news for our residents.”
Woodley Town Council Members support local residents in the objection of a planning application for the installation of a 20m high telecommunications mast and ancillary equipment on land to the North East of Vauxhall Drive, namely Vauxhall Park.
At the Town Council’s Planning & Community Meeting on 23rd March, Members noted there had been in excess of 200 responses to this planning application, the vast majority of which objected to the proposals. Three members of the public attended the virtual meeting to voice their objections.
Council Members noted these objections related to the siting of the mast in Vauxhall Park, and not the general need to erect a telecommunications mast in the area, which they acknowledged to be a necessity to allow 5G rollout.
Members also noted the Town Council had previously responded to Wokingham Borough Council’s draft Local Plan consultation recommending Vauxhall Park, amongst other green spaces, be designated as a Local Green Space in the Local Plan update.
Council Members agreed with the objections cited by residents, both at the meeting and in comments submitted to the planning authority, and fully supported the view locating the mast in Vauxhall Park was not appropriate.
Woodley Town Council has consequently written to Wokingham Borough Council’s planning authority to recommend refusal of this planning application on the grounds that the proposal will:
The application is 210668, and can be viewed at https://www.wokingham.gov.uk/planning/. The consultation ends on March 26th.
The aim is to determine where best to focus future investment in active travel infrastructure to support walking and cycling across the borough. This might include providing new cycle routes, improving footways and crossings, creating ‘school streets’ or reducing the impact of through-traffic in local neighbourhoods.
The Council is at an early stage in the plan development process and would like input from across the local community to help shape the outcome.
This is your opportunity to share your views. The platform provides an interactive map where you can place a ‘pin’ on any location in the borough and leave specific comments.
This engagement platform will remain open for comments until Sunday 18 April. You can access it HERE.
Rubbish collection crews are now seeing more and more waterproof recycling bags in use across the borough.
More than 12,000 households have now had their delivery bundle, which includes two waterproof recycling bags, 80 blue general waste bags and 100 food waste recycling bags.
Wokingham Borough Council remain’s on track to deliver to all households by mid-April. Delivery crews will also be working weekends to ensure all residents get their items as quickly as possible – so keep an eye out for yours.
You can use WBC’s website to check when your delivery is due by and how to report if you think your delivery has been missed. You can also watch its YouTube video on how to use the bags.
Now thousands of you have your bags and are using them, you might be wondering what to do with your old black recycling boxes.
If you have got your first two bags, you can keep using the black boxes for now but only with non-paper and non-card items. We will advise you in due course how you can order more bags if required.
Once you have enough waterproof recycling bags for all your recycling, please only use these and repurpose your black boxes. Suggestions to reuse the boxes include:
Do not leave your black boxes out for collection if you can’t repurpose them. There will be a dedicated collection period later this year. We will let you know when collections will be.
All you green fingered residents across Wokingham Borough will soon be able to apply for a garden waste collection for 2021-22.
Anyone signed up for a collection for 2020-21 will get an email or letter asking them to sign up to use a brown wheelie bin for the new financial year.
Residents will be directed to sign up via our website from next week, with the cost covering the period from 1 May 2021 until 30 April 2022.
The price of a garden waste collection has increased slightly by £5 to £65 for the year. The price of individual brown garden waste sacks, which have a 75-litre capacity, has also increased, from £1 to £1.10. This is the first price increase since the service launched in 2012 and is to cover increased running costs.
Thousands of children returned to school across the borough this week, with families now being able to access at home lateral flow tests.
If you’ve used these kits at home, you should then dispose of them in the following way:
These tests are available to households and support/childcare bubbles of school staff and all school pupils. You can order tests online through the Gov.uk website.
Please download our Annual Woodley Town Council Tax (precept) Leaflet, which summarises the year 2020-21, including the budget plans.
For any enquiries please email admin@woodley.gov.uk or phone 0118 9690356 (M-F: 10.00-14.00).
Please download HERE.
You are now able to request and collect books from Wokingham Borough libraries. You can request up to 10 books using the Library website or by phone. Or if you know the specific title you would like then you can reserve it directly from the catalogue using the ‘Place reservation’ button. You can return any borrowed books, when you collect. The books can then be collected from Wokingham Library, Woodley Library or Lower Earley library.
Authors Online Event – March 2021
Authors online is back! On Tuesday, March 30 at 6:30pm, local poet and author Claire Dyer will be joining us to talk about her newly published poetry anthology, Yield, her inspirations and her writing processes.
Book Chat March 2021
Sign up for Wokingham Libraries online Book Chat session! You are invited to join members of staff to chat about books. Our theme this month is Feminist Fiction. You are welcome to bring along any books you would like to recommend too.The session will take place on Tuesday March 16 at 2pm.
Book your place for these events by emailing libraries@wokingham.gov.uk
Join Wokingham Libraries and Bracknell Forest Libraries for a free talk on Tuesday March 23 at 3pm with Anthony J Quinn, author of nine novels acclaimed internationally, to discuss books, writing and his latest novels, “Turncoat”. To register for this event, go to To register for this event click here.
Storytime for British Science Week on Wednesday March 10 at 11am and 4pm. We will be sharing a science themed story and experiment. Suitable for families with children aged 8 and under.
Teen Writing Group with Author Sarah Hagger-Holt on Saturday March 13 at 10.30am. Suitable for young people aged 11 to 18 years old.
Twelfth Night for Children on Tuesday March 16 at 11am and 4pm. Join Victoria in this reading of twelfth night in rhyme for Shakespeare and some Shakespeare Facts to celebreate Shakespeare Week. Suitable for families with children aged 6 to 10 years.
Space Storytime on Tuesday March 30 at 11am for storytime. We will be sharing some Space themed stories. Suitable for families with children aged 7 and under.
To sign up just email libraries@wokingham.gov.uk with your name and library card number and you will be sent details of how to join.
For local authorities, census population estimates underpin both planning and provision of public services. Getting the best possible response rates for the census will make sure that decisions are based on accurate, high-quality data.
For the first time this will be a digital-first census, but paper versions will be available for those who need it.
All households will receive an invitation to fill out the census questionnaire with a household access code and information to help them to take part online.
For those people who’ll find accessing the census online challenging, there will be a full range of support services.
These include:
Please note that no one from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) or working for the Census will ever ask for payment to help anyone fill in their questionnaire.
For further information, please visit the ONS website.
Unfortunately, Covid-19 has hit some people financially. In order to understand this impact in more detail, Wokingham Borough Council is asking anybody affected to share their experiences.
There is a very short online survey on its consultations page and those taking part will have the choice to be contacted to give more details if they wish.
The information provided will be incredibly useful for the Council when it plans services to tackle poverty and help communities. All information provided will be kept confidential and anonymised.
In light of the Covid-19 pandemic, improving the health and wellbeing of members of our communities has never been more important. Over the next ten years, the Borough Council’s health and wellbeing strategy will aim to make life happier and healthier for everyone in Wokingham; and they want to hear from as many people as possible about what’s important to them, their families and their communities.
Help the Council to understand your experiences, your thoughts about health and wellbeing in the borough and your priorities for the future by taking its short health and wellbeing survey and you’ll be entered you into its prize draw to win £100 shopping vouchers!
Take the survey by midnight on Sunday 28 February.
Infections are continuing to drop during the national lockdown. The current weekly rate per 100,000 people is 123.9 (up to 6 February). It’s very important that we continue to stick to the rules; this means regularly washing our hands, wearing a face covering, making space from others and reducing our social contacts.
Alongside this, you must get tested if you have symptoms – even if they’re mild. Please book a test using the national booking system. If you’re a keyworker who is regularly leaving home to go to work, and you have no symptoms, you can book a rapid test at one of our test centres.
The Borough Council has listened to feedback and have extended the opening hours at its Microsoft Campus test centre to 8am-8pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. To find out more, check if you’re eligible, and to book your test, please visit the Council’s website.
Until now, the NHS has asked people to wait until they are contacted to help ensure that those who are most vulnerable are protected first, and this remains the case for most people.
However, to ensure absolutely everyone is offered the vaccine, people aged 70 or above are now being asked to contact the NHS for their Covid-19 vaccination, if they haven’t had it already. You can do this through the NHS website, or by calling 119.
To help residents understand more about the Covid-19 vaccine, Wokingham Borough Council has linked up with Dr Amit Sharma from Brookside Surgery in Earley to produce some handy videos which answer common questions, explain about the three available vaccines, run through the Covid-19 vaccine priority list, and cover why it’s so important to get vaccinated.
Parents, carers, teachers and school staff have worked extremely hard over the last six weeks and half term will come as a welcome relief to many. That said, it’s important not to drop your guard – stay safe, stay at home and stick to the rules.
If you’re stuck for ideas on what activities you can get up to, the Borough Council has put together a handy guide for you. From pancake making competitions and virtual museum tours; to at-home assault courses and family challenges. Check it out here.
© Woodley Town Council 2024
