Solar panels have been installed at Woodford Park Leisure Centre

Woodley Town Council is working with Reading Community Energy Society (RCES) to install solar panels on Woodford Park Leisure Centre, Coronation Hall and the Oakwood Centre.

This partnership will provide solar panel installations at no cost to the Council, and lower cost daytime electricity at a rate – fixed for the duration of the 20-year contract. The Council will make savings each year as prices in the energy market rise while generating ‘green energy’.

RCES is a community-owned social enterprise that already operates 12 PV (photovoltaic) systems in and around the Reading area.

Surplus income from the sale of green energy is used to provide grants for sustainability projects in the local community.

RCES raises funds for the installations through a public share offer. This will give residents of Reading the opportunity to become members of the Society and invest in the projects.

A panel inside Woodford Park Leisure Centre’s reception will be shortly installed, which will display how much energy is being generated and saved.

Helping local residents find support in the community

The Wokingham Borough Community Navigator Service is available for local borough residents to help find the correct local and national organisations and groups for support.

The free service provides additional non-medical help and support to give a better sense of well-being, social inclusion and independence.

Who is it for?

The service is available for anyone who is registered with a GP in the Wokingham Borough area looking for additional non-medical support. This could be sourcing information to find support to manage a health condition or looking for new social networks, sports or music clubs and groups in the local area, or new parents looking for parenting support and activities.

How it can help

• Improve general health and well-being
• Reduce feelings of isolation
• Meet others who share your experience
• Find local self-help groups, clubs and befriending agencies
• Volunteering your own skills and experience
• Help you to access social groups and parenting classes
• Direct you to support for housing, employment, benefits, debt and legal advice
• Get out and about more
• Learn new skills
• Get you involved in your local community.

How to access the service

The service is fully accessible and referrals can be made by a GP, nurse or other professional, as well as by an individual, friend or family member.

For further enquiries please call 01344 304404, email community.navigation@nhs.net or visit http://www.involve.community

Do you know an unsung hero?

Citizen’s Awards 2019

Each year, Woodley Town Council celebrates the work of people who help others and contribute to our community at its Citizens Awards ceremony.  The awards are for individuals whose good works benefit an individual or organisation in Woodley. They can be good neighbours, or people carrying out voluntary work, or who care for people in our community. Nominees can be any age and there is a youth category for nominees aged 19 or under.

The Mayor will be presenting the awards at a Civic Reception on the evening of 29 March 2019 to which the award winners, their family and friends, and the nominators will be invited.

If you know someone you think deserves recognition for their work in our town you can make a nomination by filling in the form and returning it to the Council offices by Monday 21 January 2019.  Forms are available on the Council website: Citizen Awards or call to request one on 0118 9690356 or for more information.

Get on your bike!

The My Journey Wokingham team will be launching their new bike hut in Woodley on 19^th February and there will be lots of FREE cycling activities on offer for all the family.

• Bring your own bike along to have a free safety check by Doctor Bike or learn how to fix a puncture at one of our workshops.
• Younger children can have a go on a balance bike taster session or a Learn to Ride session (run by our cycling instructors, indoors in the sports hall).  Balance bikes will be provided for these sessions but you are welcome to bring your own child’s pedal bike for the Learn to Ride session.
• Make a fruit Smoothie on our pedal-powered Smoothie bike.
• Have a go at our “Time to Shine” competition – hunting for bright “hi-vis” pebbles (with prizes to be won!).
• Information and advice from the My Journey Wokingham team on cycle routes and opportunities for cycle training for children and adults.

Further information can be found on the My Journey Wokingham website.

Bikeability Learn to Ride

My Journey Wokingham will also be starting up Bikeability Learn to Ride sessions on 28th February at Woodford Park Leisure Centre. Please book here.

Find out at the touch of a button what and where to recycle locally

Wokingham Borough Council is encouraging local residents to use its Recycling App Re3cyclopedia, which is available on Apple and Android devices. The App will quickly help to see what you can recycle and where. Alternatively, a desktop version is also available: Re3cyclopedia Desktop.

Be cleaner and greener

With the imminent launch of Food Waste recycling coming to the Wokingham Borough area in April, the Council is reminding local residents that many foil products can be recycled, such as take away foil trays. Its slogan: Eat, rinse, recycle! hopes to encourage more residents to use, rinse and recycle foil products and help reduce the amount of rubbish that ends up in landfill.

Food waste collection coming to Wokingham Borough in 2019

Wokingham Borough joins other boroughs to help reduce landfill waste by introducing kerbside food waste collection

From April 2019, households will be able to recycle almost all types of food waste, excluding fats and oils. Each household will receive a sealable 23 litre kerbside food waste container, along with a smaller kitchen caddie and liners.

Food waste will be collected on a weekly basis at the same time as blue bag and black box collections, as part of council plans to recycle at least 50% of all household waste by the end of 2020. Households will continue to receive an allocation of 80 blue bags, or more for larger families, on an annual basis and collections will remain the same.

The annual delivery of blue bags will be slightly earlier next year to allow for the introduction of food waste collections.

Reduced waste

At present around 30% of all residual blue bag waste could be recycled in regular food waste collections – which is over 10,000 tonnes annually. When sent to landfill and left to decompose, food waste produces methane, a potent greenhouse gas. By introducing collections, we can reduce the amount of methane released into the atmosphere and save up to £100 per tonne by diverting waste from landfill.

The food waste will be sent to an anaerobic digestion plant, which captures the methane created by the waste to produce energy and fertiliser.

Councillor comment

Cllr Norman Jorgensen, executive member for environment, sports, environmental health, leisure and libraries, said: “We’re all becoming aware of the impact we are having on the environment and so it’s important we do our bit. When food waste is sent to landfill, it produces methane – a greenhouse gas 20 times more harmful than carbon dioxide. Introducing food waste collections will allow us to reduce the amount of methane in the atmosphere, and reduce how much waste we send to landfill.”

The new service will be provided by current providers, Veolia, who will be providing a new fleet to support the service.

The WW1 story panels, installed by next to the War Memorial to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the end of the war, are scheduled to be temporarily removed the week commencing 7 January in order for the manufacturer to correct some printing issues. The panels will be reinstalled the following week (w/c 14 January). 

Anthony Stansfeld, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Thames Valley launches a survey on an increase in council tax to help protect operational policing

The Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Thames Valley, Anthony Stansfeld, has launched a survey seeking the public view on an increase in the police element of the council tax by £2 a month*.

On Thursday 13th December the Home Secretary announced the provisional police funding settlement for 2019/20. In response to the exceptional operational demands on the police, particularly in areas such as Thames Valley, the Government is increasing the funding available to PCCs by up to £813 million. However, this is provided all PCCs increase the police portion of the council tax by £2 a month or £24 a year (equivalent for a Band D property), which, collectively, will raise £509 million of the £813 million increase in funding.

Anthony Stansfeld said: “The Thames Valley Police budget has been cut by £101 million over the last eight years which has resulted in significant cuts to police officer and staff numbers. This year the Government has encouraged all PCCs to raise the policing element of the council tax precept for all households. To prevent further damaging cuts to policing and restore some important frontline policing capability I would like to make use of this Government advice and raise the council tax precept accordingly.

“Demand on police forces nationally has risen significantly in the last year as a result of an increase in non-crime business, higher crime numbers, the increasing complexity of crime, and the increasing reach of criminals both physically and via technology. Throughout this Thames Valley Police has been efficient and effective but having already faced significant cuts since 2010/11 the process of identifying new cash savings is becoming ever more challenging. However, we are committed to making policing even more efficient and have already identified over £4m of new savings in 2019/20.”

“My focus for the future continues to be on delivering strong neighbourhood policing for all of the communities across the Thames Valley whilst addressing the serious threats and hardship posed by criminals. With this in mind the extra cash generated from the proposed increase in council tax will be spent on operational policing. The draft budget for 2019/20 includes additional funding to increase local frontline policing, recruit more investigators and improve contact management with the aim to reduce call waiting times on 101 calls.”

The survey and more information, including the proposed amounts from each council tax band can be found by visiting: https://bit.ly/2QEkGkk

Closing Date: Wednesday 9th January 2019 at 17.00

*this is the equivalent for a Band D property. The increase for other property Bands is set out in the table available with the survey on the above link.

Christmas and New Year Opening Times