News

There will be Crocodile stories, rhymes, and the chance to decorate our giant crocodiles and even make your own crocodile mask to take home. All sessions are aimed at children aged five and under and cost £1.50 per child. Just drop in and take part in this fun activity.

Wokingham Library on Wednesday March 5 from 10.15am to 11am
Lower Earley Library on Friday March 7 from 10.30am to 11.15am
Woodley Library on Wednesday March 12 from 10.30am to 11.15am
Spencers Wood Library on Thursday March 13 from 10.30am to 11.15am
Winnersh Library on Wednesday March 19 from 10.15am to 11am
Maiden Erlegh Library on Saturday March 22 from 11am to 11.45am
Wargrave Library on Wednesday March 26 from 10.30am to 11.15am
Twyford Library on Friday March 28 from 10.30am to 11.15am

Wokingham Borough Council’s road safety team supported an enforcement and education operation with Thames Valley Police on the Reading Road, Winnersh (outside Sainsbury’s).

Some 20 drivers were caught not wearing a seatbelt, along with nine mobile phone offences. Fixed penalty notices were handed out by road safety constable, Dawn Seston, with a team of roads policing officers. The fines for both these offences were increased to £100 last summer.

Wokingham council has set up a special task force working with the Department of Transport and the Environment Agency to explore ways to focus on improvements to avoid future flooding and its impact on transport.

It will also invite residents, community groups and businesses to feed into this process to give a complete picture of what is needed. It will announce more details once finalised.

Some 15,000 sandbags have already been issued by the council to those properties already identified at risk of flooding or to vulnerable or elderly residents.

Due to weather conditions Smallmead recycling centre is currently closed. Please use the Longshot Lane facility in Bracknell instead.

There are 2 rubbish tips near Wokingham Borough run by re3:

Smallmead, Island Road in Reading
Longshot Lane in Bracknell

To find out more see re3 Household Waste Recycling Centre website.

A new extra care housing scheme for older people in Woodley is to be considered by Wokingham Borough Council’s decision-making executive, on January 30.

In 2012, the borough council took the decision to close Fosters Care Home in Woodley, but pledged its commitment to look at using the site for older people’s accommodation. The site has been vacant since residents successfully moved to alternative accommodation, and the borough council has been busy planning specialist housing for older people in the area.

f agreed by the executive, the new scheme would provide affordable accommodation for frail elderly and those suffering from dementia. All residents would have their own apartments, with private balcony or terrace, as well as communal features including assisted bathroom, lounge, dining room, hobby room and accommodation for guests to stay over.

It is proposed that Wokingham Housing Limited would be the council’s development partner and by working in partnership with them, it means the site would remain under the ownership of the council. Optalis, the council’s wholly owned care company, would be the care provider for the scheme.

The council has bid for funding (£1.45million) to the Homes and Communities agency and hopes to hear this month (January) if this has successful. It has also allocated £4million to this project.

If agreed by the executive, a planning application for the scheme would be submitted in the spring.

Sporting facilities at Bulmershe Leisure Centre could be energised and modernised for people in Woodley as part of plans due to be considered by Wokingham Borough Council’s decision-making executive, on January 30.

Executive members will discuss whether C-Salt/Leisure Connection should take over the running of the leisure centre from Woodley Town Council from this April or a date soon after, subject to negotiations.

Once transferred, Bulmershe could also benefit from the new borough leisure facilities strategy, currently being drawn up, which will look at different options to modernise the leisure centre.

C-Salt and the town council both support the management transfer in principle. Negotiations between the town and borough council during the next few months would focus on ensuring the building and its facilities are fit for purpose until any modernisation works could start.

The leisure centre is owned by the borough council, and has been operated under lease by Woodley Town Council since 1995.

An expert volunteer from the RSPB will be giving a free talk at Wokingham Library about how families can get involved this year.

They would like to encourage as many people as possible to take part in the world’s biggest wildlife survey. Last year 590,000 people took part and counted 8.2million birds. Bird populations are a great indicator of the health of the countryside, that’s why it’s so important to keep an eye on the ups and downs of wildlife where we live.

All people need to do is to spend an hour over the weekend of January 25-26 counting the birds in their garden.

Find out more about how you can take part and learn more about the birds in your garden by coming along to Wokingham Library on Saturday January 25 at 10.30am. The talk is free but please call (0118) 978 1368 to book a place.

Wokingham Borough Council’s ongoing drive to help unemployed people to help themselves will take another step forward this month (January) with the launch of a business start-up course for out-of-work tenants.

The course will be run by Enterprise Cube, which specialises in dynamic and interactive learning, and will provide inspiration and practical support to help those currently unemployed to start their own business. Topics covered during the 12 one-day workshops will include finance and support, business planning and sales and marketing.

The course is being organised with local social housing providers Housing Solutions, Catalyst and Sovereign and are primarily aimed at council and social housing tenants.

The free course will start on Wednesday January 29 and anybody interested in taking part should contact Jennifer Platt at Housing Solutions on (01628) 543 123.

As well as this course, Wokingham Borough Council provides funding for return to work courses run by Wokingham and Bracknell College and the Crescent Centre through its community learning budget and also provides funding to the Wokingham Job Support Centre.

A new play park at Dinton Pastures Country Park in Hurst, Wokingham is taking shape and is in the final stages of completion.

The newly constructed park will have roughly three months to settle in after the building stage is complete, which will allow trees, plants and turf sufficient time to establish. The final health and safety checks will also take place before the grand opening in early spring.

This new flagship play park, designed by RHS Gold Medal and BBC People’s Choice Award winning landscape architects Davies White Ltd, has been built using lots of natural materials, planting and trees to compliment the bespoke handcrafted timber play equipment.

Financed by Wokingham Borough Council through developer contributions, it offers endless play opportunities for all ages during all seasons.

The scheme features three giant nest towers and tree top tunnels, a double zip wire, underground tunnels, a giant slide, sand areas, climbing trees, log swings, den-building structures, playful planting areas and a woodland picnic area surrounded by willow art features.

Work to create the new signal junction between Reading Road and the top end of new station link road began on January 6.

Wokingham Borough Council has revised its timetable for this part of the station link road project, to minimise as much as possible a clash with works in the town centre being carried out by South East Water at the same time.

From January 9, traffic management will ensure two-way flow is maintained. Temporary lights will only operate on this section of the road as temporary pedestrian crossings near to the Wade Centre and St Paul’s Church.

People living on the Reading Road within the area of the new signal junction works will be unable to enter or exit their drives turning right. The council has been communicating directly with these residents about this.

This phase of work is due to finish in March, and the whole junction by June.