News

Father Christmas will be in his natural woodland grotto at the California Dreaming Café between 1pm and 3pm from December 12 to 18. The cost is £4 for each child, or visitors can opt for a meal and drink, plus visit, for £6 a child.

Wokingham Borough Council countryside service officer Rebecca Walkley said: “California Country Park looks beautiful at this time of year and so a trip to see Father Christmas in his magical natural grotto, combined with a walk around the lake or a visit to the play area, will be a lovely winter outing. The California Dreaming Café has some Christmas specials on offer as well – so visitors will be able to warm up with a hot drink and something to eat after enjoying the country park.”

The natural grotto will be in the California Dreaming Café at California Country Park, Nine Mile Ride, Finchampstead, Berkshire RG40 4HT.

California Country Park is set within acres of rare ancient bog-land and lowland heath. It offers a wealth of walking and wildlife watching opportunities for visitors. Car parking charges apply.

Berkshire firefighters tackled a large fire on Saturday at an office block at Mulberry Business Park in Wokingham.

According to the BBC. Resident Robert Hughes said he could see the flames and smell burning plastic.

Mr Hughes, who lives nearby, said: “My daughter was the first to tell me about it who lives just up the road.

“There must have been at least 24 firefighters.

“You could see the flames and smell burning plastic.”

Wokingham Trading Standards Service have issued a warning that fake vodka may be in circulation in the area, after the seizure of just under 700 one-litre bottles of vodka from a premises in Woodley.

Initial analysis of the vodka, branded as Drop Vodka, revealed that it contained methanol, potentially breaching a number of pieces of food law. The product also contained chloroform, indicating contamination, and the alcohol content also was much lower than stated. This analysis has indicated the vodka is unfit for human consumption.

Trading standards officers are now investigating the possible source of the vodka. In the meantime, members of the public are asked to contact their local trading standards service if they become suspicious or aware that counterfeit product is in circulation.

For further information, please contact Trading Standards on (01635) 519 930 or email [email protected]

In Wokingham, the library will open for the winter carnival between 11am and 4pm on Sunday November 27. There will be a Santa’s Grotto in the library from 11am to 3pm for children aged eight years and under.

Berkshire Maestros will be playing throughout the day and there will be a special visit from the Bookstart Bear. Cards for Good Causes will be on sale and the Wokingham Library coffee shop will open from 11am to 4pm, offering mince pies and mulled wine as well as the usual refreshments.

Woodley Winter Extravaganza on Sunday December 4 will see the library taking part in the celebration between 1pm and 4pm. There will be a seasonal crafts table for families with children of all ages from 1.30pm to 3.30pm and members of the Reading Symphony Orchestra will be playing festive music between 2.15pm and 3.30pm.

Libraries and information manager Richard Alexander said: “It will be wonderful for the libraries to be part of the festive season celebrations in Wokingham and Woodley and I believe they will add to the occasions.”

Children’s and adults’ activities will also continue in November and December at Wokingham Borough’s libraries. Full details are available at: www.wokingham.gov.uk/libraries

The Old School House in Reading Road, Wokingham has been sold for in excess of £500,000 by Martin and Pole, one of the town’s leading estate agents, on behalf of Wokingham Borough Council.

The building was used as the borough’s register office and was put up for sale earlier this year to save money as part of the borough council’s three-year financial plan.

The property was sold to a private bidder.

Wokingham Borough Council is set to consider up to £6million investment into The Bulmershe School in Woodley.

Under proposals being considered by the council’s decision-making executive next week, the school sets out its commitment to further improving the education results of its students in its business plan. In the summer, The Bulmershe School saw the largest increase of all the borough’s schools, with the percentage of Year 11 students achieving five or more A* to C GCSE grades going up by 17%. Results including English and Maths also went up 5%.

To assist in accelerating further improvements in teaching and learning at the school and to bring about a step change in parental perceptions of the school, the executive will consider an investment of up to £6million, targeted at improving the school environment and quality of learning spaces. The school has seen little investment since it was constructed and, although the buildings are structurally sound, they are no longer fit for purpose as their layout hampers the way in which students are taught.

If approved by the executive on November 24, it is proposed to prioritise investment in classrooms and external faces of the buildings to create an attractive learning environment. This would include temporary classrooms being replaced with a new teaching block, the development of a post-16 learning centre, a remodelled library and information centre as well as a dining facility. A detailed project plan would be produced very early in 2012 to take forward the proposals, with a view to starting work on site as soon as is possible.

Wokingham Borough Council has launched a 12-week consultation on the future of Fosters Residential Care Home.

Based in Woodley, Fosters has 35 beds and provides 24-hour accommodation and care for people who fall into the registration categories of frail, elderly and those with a diagnosis of dementia. The home has been in operation since 1964.

Whilst the highest standard of care and support is provided at Fosters, the physical environment of the building presently falls well below the standards required by the Care Standards Act (2000). Fosters is able to maintain its registration as the standards are not applied retrospectively. However, the facilities at Fosters do not enhance residents’ ability to retain independence; nor does Fosters offer en-suite facilities and bedrooms do not meet minimum requirements for room size.

Stuart Rowbotham, strategic director of commissioning, said: “Because of the age and poor condition of the building it will require substantial work in order to make sufficient improvements to bring it up to modern standards of accommodation. This work would not only cause considerable disruption to the lives of the residents but would also be limited in terms of what could be achieved.

“I feel that this is the right time to have an open and honest discussion with all concerned about the longer term future of the home. We do have an opportunity to offer a much better standard of accommodation to our older residents in the Borough, in a way that meets their needs and aspirations. At the same time we also recognise that the care and support at Fosters is greatly valued and held in high esteem by residents, their families and the local community.”

The consultation on Fosters will run from November 17 until February 8, 2012.

Gehl architects are visiting Wokingham on Tuesday November 29 to discuss delivering top notch public spaces.

The high profile lecture, to be held at St Crispin’s School on London Road in Wokingham and starting at 7pm, will offer the chance for local people to hear about Gehl’s experience of delivering other public spaces.

World leaders in the fields of architecture, urban design and urban planning, Gehl put public space and life and the close relationship between people’s use of the space and the physical character and form of the built environment at the centre of their work. The practice has been responsible for projects all over the world, advising authorities such as Brighton and Hove, Melbourne, Dublin and Copenhagen on how to create flexible and attractive public spaces which work for the people that use them.

The regeneration of Wokingham town centre is a top priority for Wokingham Borough Council, which is committed to making the town an attractive place for residents, workers and visitors alike. Key to achieving the vision for Wokingham is the development of high quality streets and public spaces and sensitive design which respects the town’s heritage.

Henriette Vamberg, director at Gehl Architects, will share her experiences of delivering high quality urban environments and public spaces through a regeneration process.
The lecture is an open event with no need to book. St Crispin’s pupils will be offering catering at the event to raise money for their World Challenge trip.

On November 14, over a hundred fruit trees were planted at Dinton Pastures Country Park, Wokingham as one of several orchard projects that have been planned across Berkshire, organised by the Community Council for Berkshire, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and supported by Wokingham Borough Council.

Local Berkshire varieties of apple trees including the Charles Ross and Cox’s Orange Pippin were planted. Orchards are particularly valuable to wildlife, providing food for bullfinches.

WBC countryside officers planted the trees with the help of volunteers from Thrive’s Growing-4-Life project. Thrive is a small national charity that uses gardening to change people’s lives. Dinton Pastures has a team of supported volunteers who improve and maintain the public gardens around the café, at the same time using gardening to promote health and wellbeing.

The Berkshire orchard project will establish community orchards in four areas of Wokingham Borough during 2011 and 2012. The Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £26,889, along with financial and ‘in-kind’ support from Wokingham Borough Council, will enable the creation of orchards in the parishes of Twyford, Wargrave and Swallowfield, and at Dinton Pastures Country Park.

The project aims to develop an understanding of the links between growing food and healthy eating. The project will involve:

planting 290 fruit trees in public open spaces

providing resources relating to the history, production and consumption of locally-grown varieties

signage describing the crops, nutrition information and an invitation to “Pick me”

local people gaining practical skills in fruit growing

helping people to understand the important role of orchards in Wokingham Borough’s past

ensuring that diversity and disadvantage is addressed through inclusive values, active citizenship and strong communities

establishing an online resource to provide recipes linked to the varieties of fruit available

Public Accounts Committee, Labour MP Margaret Hodge, has said the suggestion that it gets double the funding it actually needs from government is “ludicrous”, reports the BBC. Hodge made the comments about Wokingham Borough Council.

But David Lee, leader of the Conservative-led authority, said it was already the lowest funded council.

“There was no way we could stand with our grant cut in half,” he added.

“It is essential that this money is distributed fairly, consistently and transparently – but we found that this is not always the case,” Lady Hodge said.

“It cannot be right that at a time of budget cuts that this results in Wokingham Council receiving double the funding it actually needs while many other local authorities, such as Dorset County Council, get much less than they require.”

But Mr Lee said: “At the moment we get £125 per resident.

“We were being compared to Dorset and they receive £160 per resident but they are a county council and they don’t provide a lot of the services that we provide.

“We’re getting even less than Dorset but yet they feel they are not getting as much as they require.”