Share your views on investment in transport

Transport for the South East have set out their 30 year vision for the region – it aligns with and supports government priorities to decarbonise the transport system, level-up left-behind communities and enable sustainable economic growth in the South East.

It has been developed in partnership and written for and on the behalf of the South East’s residents, communities, businesses and political representatives.  

The public consultation on the draft of this plan will end on 12 September and we invite everyone that it affects to read the draft and respond. 

Find out more HERE.

The public toilet in the town centre is now open.

A new pattern of wards is being developed for Wokingham Borough Council. 

The Local Government Boundary Commission has decided that the number of councillors in Wokingham should be 54, the same as now. The Local Government Boundary Commission wants to hear what residents and organisations think about their local area. A 10 week consultation inviting proposals will run until 7 November 2022.

The Commission is the independent body that draws these boundaries. It is reviewing Wokingham to make sure councillors represent about the same number of electors, and that ward arrangements help the council work effectively. It wants to be sure that its proposals reflect community ties and identities. 

Your views

The Commission is interested in views on which communities should be part of the same ward. What facilities do people share, such as parks, leisure centres or schools and shopping areas? What issues do neighbouring communities face that they have in common, such as high numbers of visitors or heavy traffic? Have there been new housing or commercial developments that have changed the focus of communities? And are there roads, rivers, railways or other features that people believe form strong boundaries between neighbourhoods? 

The Commission will use local views to help it draw up proposals for new ward boundaries. There will be a further round of consultation once the Commission has drawn up those proposals. 

Launching the consultation Professor Colin Mellors, Chair of the Commission, said: “We want people in Wokingham to help us. 

“We are starting to draw up new wards for Wokingham. We want our proposals for new electoral arrangements to reflect communities. We also want them to be easy to understand and convenient for local people. 

“Residents and local organisations can help us understand community ties and identities at this early stage of the process. 

“It’s easy to get involved. Go to our website. Or you can e-mail or write to us. 

“Just tell us what you think and give us some details why you think that. It’s really simple, so do get involved.” 

How to have your say

The Commission has a dedicated section on its website where people can give their views. 

People can also give their views by e-mail at reviews@lgbce.org.uk and by post: 

Review Officer (Wokingham) 

LGBCE , PO Box 133 , Blyth , NE24 9FE

Wokingham Borough Council wants to know how it can help you in reducing your carbon footprint, looking at how we all travel, make sustainable changes, including waste and recycling and energy.

Its Let’s Talk Climate survey is exploring what impacts the decisions you make and how the Council could help you make more sustainable choices, such as by providing skills workshops to repair items, community waste reduction schemes and incentives or penalties.

Earlier this year, nine focus groups made up of residents, businesses and children, were guided through three sessions looking at what can be done locally to reduce our carbon impact.

The participants started by thinking about if money and technology were no issue, what they could do. They then narrowed those down into tangible and practical ideas.

Let’s Talk Climate Survey

The survey shares those ideas and asks people across the borough what they think of them.

Please complete the survey HERE.

We’re looking for a part time Venues Assistant to join our busy team, delivering first class customer services at our venues.

Closing date for applications: Friday 16 September 2022

See the job spec, download an application form and find out more HERE.

Or email: jobs@woodley.gov.uk

Cycle September is a month-long competition from Love to Ride, which aims to get more people riding bikes. At a time when environmental issues, wellness, and money saving are an important factor for many, there has never been a better time to ride a bike.

Last year, more than 51,000 riders from almost 7,000 businesses took part including over 5,500 people who were new to riding! They hopped on their bikes, logged their rides, encouraged their friends and family to join, and won amazing prizes for their efforts.

Benefits

There are so many benefits to be enjoyed from riding a bike, and Cycle September is all about embracing each and every one of them, such as: 

⚡️ Supercharged physical health – even a 10-minute bike ride will boost your immune system, improve cardiovascular health, and help you live longer! 

🧠 Improved mental health – riding a bike is a mindful activity that promotes the release of endorphins and can reduce the causes of depression 

🧡 Reduced stress and anxiety – biking can calm the mind, improve self-confidence, and elevate your mood 

🌍 Protecting the planet – reduce your carbon footprint by leaving the car at home

💰 Saving money – cut down on transport costs and car maintenance

How to take part

Taking part in Cycle September is easy. Ride for 10 minutes or more, log your ride, and start earning points to win prizes and climb the leaderboards. 

• Register for free at lovetoride.net/wokingham
• Join [business name] so your points contribute to the leaderboard
• Start logging your bike rides to earn riding points. 
• Encourage friends and family (not just co-workers) to win BIG! If they register and add you as their encourager, you’ll score 50 or 100 points.
• More points mean more chances to climb the leaderboards and win prizes! 

Register for Cycle September HERE.

Wokingham Borough Council is urging residents to check their electoral registration details or risk losing their chance to vote on decisions that affect them.

The Council is required by law to carry out the canvass every year and each household must ensure their details are correct. The process allows the Council to keep the electoral register up to date, identify who is at risk of losing their voice at elections and to encourage people to register before it is too late. 

With elections taking place in May next year, this is an opportunity for residents to make sure they can take part. This year’s canvass will take place from September to November, in readiness for publication of the revised electoral register on 1 December 2022.

How the process will work

The Council will contact some residents by post, while others will be contacted by email. The letter will tell you whether you need to respond. Not all residents will be contacted when the first letters and emails are sent out at the beginning of September. The council will be sending out further correspondence and reminders in October.

Forms will be addressed to ‘The Occupier’ but anyone in the household can respond. Canvass correspondence sent via email will be sent from the Wokingham.borough.council.electoral.services@notifications.service.gov.uk email address and will contain the council’s official branding.

It is important to confirm the details of your household by 30 November in order to appear on the published register. Any new electors must register by 20 November.

During the canvass period, you can respond on the Household Response website, but you will need to use the security codes provided on the form to do so.

Make sure your don’t lose your say

Andrew Moulton, electoral registration officer at Wokingham Borough Council, said: “Keep an eye out for updates from the Council. The annual canvass is our way of making sure that the information on the electoral register for every address is accurate. To make sure you don’t lose your say at the next election, look out for instructions from us. If you don’t hear from the Council, you might not be on the register. If you want to register, the easiest way is online.”

People who have recently moved home in particular are being encouraged to check their details, as research from the Electoral Commission has found that recent home movers are less likely to be registered than those who live at the same address for a long time. In Great Britain, 92 per cent of those who have lived in their home for 16 years will be registered, compared with 36 per cent of people who have lived at an address for less than a year.

More information on registering to vote is available online from the Electoral Commission. Residents with questions about their registration status can contact the Council’s electoral services team at electoralservices@wokingham.gov.uk or call 0118 974 6000.

A large number of local residents attended the Town Council’s recent Planning & Community Meeting suggesting improvements and alternative routes for the proposed cycleway between Woodley and Reading

Nearly 50 residents attended Woodley Town Council’s Planning & Community Committee meeting on Tuesday 9 August, to express their views on Wokingham Borough Council’s updated proposals for an Active Travel Route between Woodley and Reading.

The scheme, designed by Phil Jones Associates (PJA) on behalf of Wokingham Borough Council, proposes a segregated cycle route running from the eastern end of Woodlands Avenue in Woodley town centre through to Palmer Park in Reading, via Church Road and Palmerstone Road, and follows the award of £500k funding from Active Travel England in November 2020.

A previous design, which proposed converting Woodlands Avenue to a one-way section of road between Lytham Road and Howth Drive, faced strong opposition at an earlier meeting of the Planning & Community Committee in February. Following that earlier consultation, PJA revised the scheme, proposing instead to retain the two directional traffic on the eastern stretch of Woodlands Avenue but reduce the width to 5m in order to implement a two-way stepped cycle track along the north of the carriageway.

Representatives from Wokingham Borough Council and PJA, including Councillor Paul Fishwick, Executive Member for Active Travel, Highways and Transport, attended the Committee Meeting to present on the updated proposals and listen to comments.

A balanced and lengthy discussion took place, during which a variety of views were conveyed regarding a number of sections along the proposed route. The general consensus was that, while there was support for improvements to the cycle route between Woodley and Reading, there was a desire for an alternative route via Beechwood Avenue and Howth Drive to be fully explored and designed, with residents then consulted on both options together.

Draft minutes of the meeting can be found on our website: www.woodley.gov.uk.

There is still time for residents to respond to the consultation, which has been extended to 4th September. While the majority of debate has been around the eastern section of Woodlands Avenue, residents are encouraged to consider the entirety of the route. Details can be found at: engage.wokingham.gov.uk. 

During National Allotments Week, we’d like to highlight this valuable community asset.

The Woodley Allotments site on Reading Road is now one of the largest allotment sites in Berkshire with over 370 allotments and nearly 320 individual allotment holders. Tenants are members of an inclusive community focused on growing vegetables, fruit and flowers in an organic and environmentally friendly way.

Health and wellbeing

While primarily providing a space to grow crops, allotments also provide many physical and mental health benefits such as a quiet place for reflection and relaxation, an area to observe nature and as an escape from the pressures of the outside world. However, it also helps people to develop new friendships, to share their love of gardening with others and improve their physical wellbeing through walking, digging, planting, weeding, watering and harvesting.

Allotments on the site cater for all ages and abilities and, in response to an increasing interest in ‘grow your own’, smaller starter plots and mini plots have been added to the portfolio of full size and half size plots, providing the opportunity for more local residents’ to access an outdoor growing space.

Charities

The Woodley Allotments Tenants Association Committee support several charities on site, including: Launchpad, Sport in Mind and Hope & Vision. These charities are all allotment holders and use their plots to in a variety of ways to support vulnerable people from within the local community. Furthermore, all crops grown on the Launchpad plots together with donations from tenants are delivered weekly to Reading Food Bank to help provide fresh produce to those who need it most. Sport in Mind charity provides a similar service supporting the Woodley Food Bank through weekly donations.

Schools

The Allotment Association has also developed close links with local schools; Addington School is an allotment holder and recently children from Highwood Primary School visited for an educational tour. The Association hopes, through education, to encourage more young people to develop a closer relationship with the land and growing plants.

Find out more

For more information about available plots, please visit: https://www.woodley.gov.uk/parks-facilities/allotments or call 0118 9690356. 

From Wednesday 10th August to Friday 12th August, Wokingham Borough Council waste and recycling collections will start an hour earlier at 5:30am, in order to protect the crew during the heatwave.

Please put your waste and recycling out the night before your collection day to avoid being missed.

Thank you for your cooperation in supporting the team.

Love Parks – Green Flag award, Rotary Garden, Garden of Remembrance, Memorial Ground and the Friends of Woodford Park

We are delighted to be taking part in Keep Britain Tidy’s #LoveParks campaign. Today we celebrate Woodford Park’s Green Flag status for the fifth year running, as well as the Garden of Remembrance, the Memorial Ground, the lake and the Rotary Garden in Woodford Park. 

We’d like to thank our fantastic team for all the work they do in the park, as well as the Friends of Woodford Park and all the volunteers.

Improvements to the park

We are delighted that Woodford Park has been awarded Green Flag status for the fifth year running and we are very proud of the work that has been done to improve the park. 

These include:

• New play area
• Skate park
• War memorial and civic space
• Memorial gates
• Lake refurbishment
• New pathways
• Rotary Garden
• Friends Group Gardens
• 3G pitch
• Works to improve land drainage.

We have more plans to improve the area, which include:

• Knee rail fencing replacement
• Extending pathway near Garden of Remembrance
• Replacing timber planters 
• Creating more shrub bed areas
• Continue improving the biodiversity and planting around the lake
• Creating more bug habitat
• New seating 
• Tree planting
• New rose garden – more being added all the time
• Create a nature trail with informative signage around the park 
• Look at improving the drainage in areas prone to flooding.

Climate change facts about the park

We are very keen to develop and maintain climate opportunities to achieve carbon neutral status by 2030. These include:

• Wild margins around the sports pitches
• Wildlife habitat around the lake
• Rainwater harvesting for use in the park
• Solar panels on park buildings.

Tell us what you love about this park…

How you can help: 

• Take your litter home
• Pick up dog poop
• Report any issues to us
• Tell us how it can be improved

Email: admin@woodley.gov.uk Call: 0118 9690356