Woodley Town Council objects to proposed changes to Borough car parks in Woodley

At the Full Council meeting held on 28 September 2021, Woodley Town Councillors unanimously voted to object to Wokingham Borough Council’s (WBC) proposed Traffic Regulation Order (TRO), which will potentially affect all four of Woodley’s borough-run car parks.

WBC car parks in Woodley

Crockhamwell Road

Lytham Road (East)

Lytham Road (West)

Headley Road

The TRO is in response to complaints of anti-social behaviour in borough-run car parks and proposes changes to operating hours to ‘all times’ and ‘Mondays to Sundays’, car park management, car park controls and car park charges. 

While Cllr Pauline Jorgensen, executive member for highways at Wokingham Borough Council has stated that there will be no current changes to car park charges, Woodley Town Councillors are concerned that the proposed TRO will potentially allow WBC to introduce charges without consultation as a TRO will no longer be required. 

Councillors also questioned why the TRO was required when CCTV footage should suffice. 

Objection

Therefore, Woodley Town Councillors unanimously objected to the TRO for the following reasons:

• It is not needed for action to be taken on anti-social behaviour as the CCTV already provides that facility 
• It removes the requirement to publicise any potential change to car park charges ahead of implementation 
• It removes the legal need for any resident’s consultation in the future which is anti-democratic.

Woodley Town Council will be submitting an official objection to the TRO and encourages local residents to do the same by 12^thOctober.

Have your say

Objections can be sent to: TM.consultations@wokingham.gov.uk.

We are delighted to be selling A History of Woodley from the Town Council offices. The book was researched and written by members of Woodley and District U3A, Reading U3A and Wokingham U3A.

Copies are available priced at £10.00 (cash only).

The book can also be bought at Woodley News in Crockhamwell Road and Fourbears bookshop in Caversham.

Many of the articles from the book can also be read on our website. Please click HERE.

Be prepared for some Halloween spookery in Woodley Town Centre on Saturday 30th October from 3pm.

There will be a competition for the best dressed witch and wizard, as well as music, a witch hunt and a painting competition.

Look out for the Town Mayor and Deputy Town Mayor too!

For more information, please email the Town Centre Manager Brian Fennelly tcm@woodley.gov.uk.

From Monday 1 November, recycling will no longer be collected from the old black boxes. Wokingham Borough Council and its contractor Veolia will only be collecting recycling from the sealed green waterproof recycling bags after this date.

The new waterproof recycling bags have replaced the old open black boxes so that the recycling materials will stay dry, which means that more of the materials can be recycled. The new bags should be fully sealed to keep the contents dry.

Residents using the black boxes from Monday 4 October will have a sticker placed on their boxes notifying them of the change, to ensure no one has their collection missed following a four week grace period.

Cllr Parry Batth, executive member for environment and leisure, said: “We are grateful to residents for their exceptional efforts in keeping their recyclables dry, as this has helped us recycle more and have less going to be incinerated.”

“We made the switch to the green bags for practical reasons, but we know they have been well received by our residents as well. We have heard from many residents that they really like the green waterproof bags as they are easier to use and more convenient than the black boxes.”

Residents are now able to get up to four more green recycling bags if needed. Residents can visit any of the council’s hubs during opening hours. To find collection hub locations and hours, visit WBC’s recycling webpage.

For residents who cannot collect the bags or arrange someone to collect them on their behalf, they can be ordered for delivery but please note due to the national shortage of HGV drivers, this may take over 14 days.

What to do with the black boxes

Repurpose: The council has heard from many residents repurposing their black boxes in unique and practical ways such as: storage for items, growing plants or vegetables, shelter for wildlife or donating to family, friends, neighbours, or anyone who wants it.

Find someone else who wants to repurpose them: Another alternative is rehoming the black boxes to people that may like more. If you haven’t found a use for yours, join the Facebook group ‘Wokingham Borough black box rehoming hub’ and connect with schools, companies, nurseries, or anyone else that may need some. This way those who want to reuse them can have access to more.

Recycle them: If residents can’t find a way to reuse or repurpose their black boxes, the re3 recycling centres are now able to recycle rigid plastic. All the materials are recycled in European and UK markets in pipelines, cars, construction and furniture materials. You can book your click & tip slot via the re3 webpage.  

Please click HERE to access the latest Friendship Alliance Newsletter, which includes links to social events and resources.

FREE Bike checks at Woodford Park Leisure Centre from My Journey

Time:  2.30pm-3.30pm

Date:  Thursday, 4 November 2021 – Thursday, 9 December 2021

Venue:  Woodford Park Leisure Centre, Haddon Drive, Woodley, RG5 4LY

Further information

Dr Bike will be at Woodford Park Leisure Centre carrying out FREE bike checks to make sure your bike is roadworthy.

Book a slot and Dr Bike will diagnose any issues and, if he can, he’ll fix them for FREE!

If there are any parts needed or it’s beyond the scope of the session he’ll let you know and give you some advice and options to get your bike ready to ride.

You MUST book a slot to drop off your bike with Dr Bike.

Book your slot HERE.

PLEASE ALSO NOTE THE FOLLOWING:

Please adhere to the current Government social distancing measures.

If you are showing any COVID-19 symptoms please do NOT attend the free bike checks.

All bikes will be sanitized before and after by Dr Bike.

This event is run by My Journey and NOT Woodley Town Council.

Garden waste temporarily suspended

The national shortage of HGV drivers is impacting Wokingham Borough Council’s waste collection contractor Veolia. The Council is working closely with Veolia to minimise disruption to collections as much as possible and is prioritising the collections of food waste, rubbish and recycling.

To help deliver these essential services, the Council has taken the difficult decision to suspend garden waste collections for four weeks from 4 October to 1 November.  Paid subscriptions will be extended by four weeks from 1 May 2022 to make up for the missed collections.

Bulky waste collections will be paused for two weeks from 18 to 31 October. The online booking form has been temporarily suspended as all slots leading up to 18 October are already taken.

Wokingham Borough Council is undertaking a range of measures to keep disruption to waste collection services to a minimum, including working with Veolia on its HGV driver training and recruitment programmes, incentive schemes for new hires and retention bonuses and lobbying the government to take steps to help resolve the national HGV driver shortage.

For more information, visit Wokingham Borough Council’s news webpage.

September 2021

We are delighted to welcome back some of our regular hirers to the Oakwood Centre, Chapel Hall and Coronation Hall.

For a list of clubs and activities at our halls, please click HERE.

Please note that these clubs and activities are run by external suppliers so please contact them directly using the contact details provided. Thank you.

To enquire about hiring one of our rooms or halls, please email: bookings@woodley.gov.uk.

Have your say on the borough’s secondary school provision

Wokingham Borough Council is inviting parents, schools and other interested parties for their views on secondary school provision in the borough to 2031.

The council has identified some key issues to be addressed in its new strategy, including:

• The number of Year 7 places required is increasing, reflecting higher numbers of children coming through from primary schools because of rising birth rates in the years leading up to 2012/13. It is expected that the demand for Year 7 places will begin to reduce after 2023/24.
• The increase in housing in the area, as mandated by the National Planning Policy Framework, has meant more families are moving to the area with children requiring school places, particularly near the borough’s new major development sites.
• The Office for National Statistics (ONS) predicts that the 11 to 16 year old population will peak in 2024 and 2025 and then decline, almost to the current size, across the next decade.

The additional school places required will be provided over the next ten years, by utilising unused capacity in schools, expanding existing schools and (if necessary) opening new schools.

Few Wokingham schools can provide additional places without investment in new buildings or other changes. Therefore, while utilising unused buildings could be a short-term solution, it is likely that this capacity will be required in the future so would need to be considered as part of a wider investment plan.

School expansion depends on an agreement with their managing trust (all bar one are now academies), and the school sites being sufficiently large to accommodate new buildings, and car parking, while maintaining sufficient  PE space .

Opening a new school would require a large site, which is unlikely to be found in established residential areas, and significant financial investment. As such, this would need to be planned as part of the council’s strategic housing development, which will be set in its local plan. Another school will only be required if continued high levels of housing development leads to a sustained increase in the 11 to 16 population or growth is achieved in new communities that cannot make use of existing capacity in a sustainable way.

The consultation seeks to gather views from parents, schools and key stakeholders on the council’s analysis of secondary school places and comments on potential solutions.

Cllr Graham Howe, executive member for children’s services, said: “There is a need to increase the number of places available in secondary schools, both on a short-term basis to ensure the next intake are catered for, as well as in the longer term.

“Wokingham borough has long been hailed as one of the best places to live and raise a family in the UK, so understandably people want to come and raise their families here, and we need the capacity in our schools to support that. 

“Please take time to read through the consultation document and submit your response to the council so we can shape the next generation of secondary places in the borough.”

The consultation documents and survey can be found on the council’s consultation web page.

Wokingham Borough Council is seeking to change the way it runs its car parks to make it easier to tackle anti-social behaviour (ASB) in them.

There have been complaints of late-night ASB in some car parks and the council is consulting on changes to the way they are run (through revised Traffic Regulation Orders – TRO) so it can tackle these. There would be no change to any parking charges or when drivers have to pay as a result of the proposals.

Cllr Pauline Jorgensen, executive member for highways said: “We need to find ways to help the police tackle the ASB that has been happening in some car parks. At the moment we can’t do that because, technically, the car parks are not technically ‘operational’ at night – so we don’t have powers to kick people out of them. The proposed new TROs would make the car parks ‘operational’ 24/7 – so we could take action when needed. It is important to point out that this does not change car parking charges at all – either in terms of when people have to pay or how much.”

The proposed new TROs would replace a now out-of-date TROs and so would also tidy up some anomalies (see below). Residents can give their views by emailing the council’s traffic management team on TM.consultations@wokingham.gov.uk. The statutory consultation is open until 7 October 2021 and the council will continue to accept comments until midnight 10 October.

Changes to Car Park Management

The new TROs will remove a number of off-street car parks no longer run by the council including the Ems Road multi-story and The Paddocks Wokingham car parks. The council is creating a separate TRO to manage the borough’s four park and ride sites at Coppid Beech Park and Ride, Mereoak Park and Ride, Thames Valley Park and Ride, and Winnersh Triangle Park and Ride.  

The new TROs will also allow the council to designate electric vehicle charging parking bays in any off-street car park.

Changes to Operating Hours

The changes will enable the Council to take action against anti-social behaviour and misuse of car parks by extending the operating hours to ‘at all times’ Monday to Sunday (including bank holidays).

Changes to Off-street Parking Costs

There will be no increases in car parking charges at any council car parks as part of the new TROs. The council is introducing 15 minutes of free parking at Dinton Pastures Country Park Activity Centre Car Park as well as 30 minutes of free parking in the visitor bays at the council offices in Shute End (Mondays to Fridays 6am to 6pm).  

New Car Parking Controls

Other improvements in the new TROs include making it easier to see how much you need to pay for different times of day, making it easier to pay for parking with a ‘check in/check out system’ which means there is no requirement to display a ticket. 

To support the local shops in the California Cross area, a new 1 hour maximum stay restriction will be introduced to ensure the spaces are used by local shoppers rather than by longer stay visitors. 

For more information, visit the council’s website at www.wokingham.gov.uk and search ‘traffic regulation orders’. To provide feedback on the new TROs, email TM.consultations@wokingham.gov.uk by 7 October, 2021. 

Woodley Town Centre is asking all under 12s to help design the poster for its two Christmas Events this year:

Carol Concert and Christmas Illuminations – Saturday 27^th  November at 4.30pm

&

The  Woodley Christmas Fayre – Sunday 5^th  December, 10am to 3pm

All winning posters will be used to advertise both events and all entries will be used to create a colourful art exhibition in The Oakwood Centre prior to Christmas.

The Wokingham Paper will also print all of the entries received.

Prizes up for grabs: £30, £20 and £15 gift cards respectively for 1st prize, 2nd and 3rd. 

Entries must be received by Friday the 29^th of October 2021! Please hand them in at The Oakwood Centre.

Week commencing 13th September 21

Woodley 

WBC contractors’ trial hole – Loddon Bridge Road 

2-way temporary lights will be in place on Loddon Bridge Road between Crockhamwell Road and Norton Road, from 13 to 15 September, 9.30am to 4pm.  This is to carry out trial hole to investigate drainage.  https://one.network/?123308937  

WBC contractors’ surfacing works – Hurricane Way 

Road closure will be in place on Hurricane Way, between Marathon Close and Donaldson Way, from 15 to 16 September. This is to carry out surfacing works.  https://one.network/?121411382  

WBC contractor’s surfacing works – Mohawk Way 

Road closure will be in place on Mohawk Way, at the junction of Hurricane Way to junction of Perimeter Road, from 18 to 19 September. This is to carry out surfacing works.   https://one.network/?121950311  

For more information please contact Wokingham Borough Council.