The August update from the Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner for the Thames Valley Police, Mathew Barber can be viewed here

The update includes news on the Force Open Day, The Herbert Protocol, Rural Crime Online Reporting, and the Importance of Local Policing.

Welcome to the Ridgeway National Trail summer newsletter – 

• we've ideas for dog walking and for bird watching along The Ridgeway
• we learn how the Castles bike ride has raised lots of money for Macmillan Cancer Support through sheer pedal power
• we take a look at how local villages are providing a warm welcome for Ridgeway users
• and we ask for volunteers to come out and help to keep the Trail a lovely path to walk along.

 
We hope that you enjoy the read – and if you’d like to contribute to the next newsletter, please contact the team at ridgeway@oxfordshire.gov.uk
  
Kind regards,
 
National Trails Team

The Pew Sheet for Sunday 22nd July can be downloaded here
Services in the West Downland Benefice this Sunday will be:
 8.00am             Holy Communion (BCP) at Leckhampstead
 9.30am             Holy Communion at Shefford Woodlands
10.00am             Holy Communion at Brightwalton 
There will not be a 5.00pm service this week - the next will be on Wednesday 1st August at Leckhampstead.

Address to Brightwalton Parish Council Assembly – July 2018 – Clive Hooker
 
Thank you for inviting me to address your Parish Assembly to report on the activities and achievements of West Berkshire Council. 
 
Highlights.
 
The government continues to concentrate on reducing the country's debt. In order to help achieve this, Councils, the Fire Service and Police have had funding reductions. Whilst there is no doubt that there was quite a lot of room for economies, there is really little or no scope for further economies without impacting the services received.
 
So finance has again been a severe problem with the further reduction by the Government of the Revenue Support Grant to near zero and the cap on any increase in the Council Tax. Social services and in particular the needs of an increasing elderly population are straining resources.
 
Educational achievements are improving.
 
There have been extensions to schools and new schools planned to cope with the rising number of children.
 
The local plan is being rolled forward together with a transport plan to take them up to 2036.
 
The roads are in good shape although the recent snow and ice has caused some damage
 
Finance.
 
In line with government policy the reduction in the Revenue Support Grant continued with a reduction from £34M in 2013/14 to £3.7M this year. Next year, 2018/19, it will effectively be zero. With the increasing pressure on social services caused by the increase in longevity of the population, the health services keeping us alive and the population increase, pressure on expenditure has increased. There has also been pressure from inflation and pay increases. However, new housing has increased the revenue from the Council Tax. Thus the reductions in expenditure and seeking new sources of income have continued. The changes have included staff reductions, reductions in grants to local charities and good causes, finding cheaper ways of providing services, sharing services with other councils (for example trading standards) and investing in property. The reduction in staff has led to some non-essential services being severely stretched – for example planning enforcement. A council can borrow money very cheaply, so in common with many other councils, West Berkshire is borrowing to buy commercial properties as a way of generating income. This should yield about £500K per year.
 
To balance the books the Council raised the Council Tax in 2017 – 18 by 4.99%.
3% of this was dedicated to social services. This year, 2018 - 19 it raised it by 5.99% again with 3% for social services. From time to time the government has come up with grants for special purposes, recently one for road maintenance.
 
The Council has joined a government scheme for the retention of the business rate. This in reality is the forthcoming increase in the business rate. 70% of this will go to the Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership to fund large infrastructure projects across the county and 30% will come to the Council and this is estimated to be £1.6M. This is most welcome and led to the increase of the grant to the Citizens Advice Bureau from £40K to £80K and that together with a grant from the Greenham Trust of £80k has preserved this vital service. CAB will therefore now receive a total of £160,000, which is a considerable increase from the £40,000 available following the budget review.
 
Communities
 
With the restrictions on funding the Council is concentrating on helping communities to help themselves by devolution. Much of this work has been with parish and town councils.
 
An example of this is the transfer of the Hungerford library building to the town council, where in addition to providing a library, it is used by the local community led by the Friends of Hungerford Library. In Thatcham the play areas are being transferred to the town council.
 
Incidentally all the libraries apart from Wash Common are open. In many cases the local communities have put in a lot of voluntary effort and grants from parish councils. A group has been set up to try and reopen the Wash Common Library which shows some sign of success.
 
The numbers of volunteers at libraries, Shaw House, Newbury Town Museum, the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Program and other areas has risen from about 200 to over 500. As a by-product, many people get a lot of enjoyment and fulfilment from volunteering.
 
The Civil Contingencies Team now have a Vulnerable People Plan to help identify vulnerable people if there is a major incident.
 
Locally the ‘kitchen garden’ at Shaw House is being developed to allow and encourage local residents to enjoy healthy eating.
 
Social services
 
The Safeguarding of Children and Vulnerable Adults has been simplified with a single telephone number for help. There was an encouraging Ofsted inspection that there had been a lot of progress in working with partner organisations to improve the safeguarding of children. The priority is to ensure a quick and appropriate response.
 
A previous Care Quality Commission inspection had found the Willows Edge adult social care home as ‘inadequate’ a recent inspection now shows it to be ‘good’.
 
There has been a problem with recruiting and retaining social workers with 50% vacancies. This caused a lot of expense in employing agency staff. This has now improved to a 10% vacancy rate.
 
Education
 
The Council’s priority is to improve educational attainment.
 
Currently, the schools judged by Ofsted to be at least ‘good’ has risen to 95%. The remaining four schools are improving. Some of the schools are Academies and therefore not under the Council’s control. Further capacity has been and will be needed to meet the growing population.
 
There has been a good improvement in attainment of learning of disadvantaged pupils and this is an area of priority for the Council.
 
£4.8M has been spent on school improvements. At Fir Tree Primary School additional places for Autistic children have been provided. At Speenhamland School there are 60 new places for reception children. A new primary school will be built at Highwood Copse and next year there is hope that the Theale primary school will be replaced. Also a new school is expected as part of the North Newbury development.
 
Roads
 
About £6M has been spent on the District’s roads with a further £6M next year. About 100 roads were resurfaced. The roads are in good condition although the recent snow caused quite a lot of damage that is taking time to repair.
 
A new road from the A339 into the London Road Estate had been built in preparation for the Estate’s redevelopment. Next year a link should be provided from the A339 into the expected Sandleford development. These were financed from the Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership.
 
17 more flood alleviation schemes have been completed with the remaining work being of a more minor nature.
 
95% of Berkshire now enjoys super-fast broadband with 99% still being the target.
 
Waste Collection
WBC will charge an annual subscription (yet to be confirmed of £50 per household) for the collection of garden waste.
Residents will be able to opt in or out to receive the service.
Subscribers will continue to use the green bin and will receive a bin sticker to show that the service for the collection of garden waste has been paid for. The green bin can be put out with the recycling every fortnight.
Subscribers will also be able to put food waste in the green bin for recycling.
Non-subscribers will stop receiving a garden waste collection. However, household food waste may be put in the green bins for collection every fortnight. 
Residents will be able to request additional bins as part of this subscription service and additional charges will apply.    
There will be no service concessions.
It is estimated this proposal will create an income of up to £600,000 this year and £900,000 every year thereafter. This additional income will assist in paying for the rubbish and recycling collection service.
 
Planning
 
The Council believes in being a plan led according to the Council’s Development Plan Document. To this end, the plan takes us up to 2026 and defines where development should take place and what polices are required to control that development. Several developers have tried to claim in appeals with Her Majesty’s Inspectors that we do not have a 5 year land supply for housing but, in all but one case, the Council has won the appeal. There is a rule that 30% of dwellings on a brown field site and 40% on a greenfield site should be affordable. Regretfully government decided that if developers could claim that proving the affordable housing would make a development unviable they could omit it. There is now an industry exploiting this loop hole and therefore the provision of affordable housing is disappointing. The expected delivery was 1000 units by 2020 that now looks more like 685. As an aside, government edicts are littered with “unintended consequences” with viability being one, and the conversion of offices to housing without the need for permission another.
 
Disappointingly the Sandleford development still does not have planning permission following two refused planning applications due to disagreements between the two developers and the Council insisting that it should be done according to the local plan. A third planning application has recently been submitted, which will be considered by Officers shortly.  Should the disagreement continue after the third application has been submitted, the Council will seriously consider a compulsory purchase of the site.
 
It was a pleasure to see a start being made on the Stirling Cables site. It is heavily contaminated and it will take some time to clear this prior to development.
 
Plans for the redevelopment of the site between Market Street and the railway station are in place and the first visible sign of this will be the move of the bus station to the Wharf later this year.
 
There is now a proposal for a very large development at Grazley on the West Berkshire Wokingham border. This straddles the two districts. If this goes ahead, it will take a lot of the development pressure in the future.
 
All the Berkshire councils are rolling forward their local plans and transport plans to 2036.  The policies have just completed consultation. There has been a call for sites that has ended and the results are being analysed and will go out to consultation in a few months, after which a decision will be taken as to where development will take place. It is understood that the Christmas Tree Field and land north of Vodafone are being put forward.
 
During the past year my Council responsibilities have included:-
 
Chairman for the Western Area Planning Committee
Deputy Portfolio Holder for Planning
Member of the District Planning Committee
Member of the Planning Advisory Group
Member of the Development Industry Forum
 
 Outside duties include:-
Trustee of the Saunders Wynn and Coventry Trust at Chaddleworth
 
I have attended most of the West Ilsley, East Ilsley, Beedon, Brightwalton, Chaddleworth, Leckhampstead Parish Council meetings and the Farnborough Parish assemblies.
  
Clive Hooker
District Councillor for Downlands Ward
July 2018

The West Berkshire Museum and Shaw House have just published their Autumn / Winter programme of adult craft workshops, including ceramics and flower arrangements. Full details can be found here:

http://www.westberkshireheritage.org/whats-on/categories/workshops

The summer newsletter from West Berkshire Countryside Society is available to download here:
​

Sunday Services in the West Downland Benefice
June 2018
 
Services in bold print have activities for children
 
3rd June                                8am                       BCP Holy Communion    Chaddleworth
10am                     Together@Ten                 Great Shefford
10am                     Holy Communion             Fawley
11am                     All Age Communion        Wickham
10th June             
8am                       BCP Holy Communion    Brightwalton
9.30am                 Holy Communion             Great Shefford
10am                     Holy Communion             Leckhampstead
11am                     BCP Holy Communion    Wickham            
17th June             
8am                       BCP Holy Communion    Fawley
10am                     Café Church                       Great Shefford
10am                     Holy Communion             Chaddleworth
 11am                     Matins                                  Welford
24th June             
8am                       BCP Holy Communion    Leckhampstead
9.30am    Holy Communion       Shefford  Woodlands
10am                     Holy Communion             Brightwalton
 
Revd Miri Keen writes
I’ve been enjoying the sort of simply glorious summer afternoon that vicars in books always seem to have!  We have been drinking tea in the shade of an apple tree while the sun shines in a cloudless blue sky.  The birds are singing at the tops of their voices and the breeze is scented with lilac.  The garden is lush, green and bursting with new growth.  The beauty of the day and the sense of well-being that I feel remind me of one of God’s promises:  
 
“If you do away with the yolk of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
and if you spend yourself on behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed ...
The Lord will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. 
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.”
Isaiah 58: 10&11
How wonderful it is to know that we can be confident that our individual life and the life of our community can be as fruitful and inspiring as the most lush and well-tended garden because God has promised that he will care for us and help us to grow if we care for one another and seek justice and goodness. 
Songs of Praise at Shefford Woodlands: Sunday 1st July at 6pm
Followed by refreshments by kind invitation of Mrs Anne Hewson
All Welcome
Do you have a favourite hymn or song that brings back previous memories or has helped you through difficulties and challenges?  Would you be willing to write a few lines to tell others why it is so special, or even share a few words at our Songs of Praise?  Please contact Miri
01488 6499927                                                   miri.westdownland@gmail.com
 
For more information about our services and events please contact our Administrator Lindsay Hardy                      lindsay@thevo.co.uk
or follow our new Facebook page            West Downland Churches

Your May edition of the Brickleton News will soon be dropping through your door... for those that can't wait. 

The Downland Benefice Pew Sheet for the 13th May can be downloaded here:

Brightwalton Parish Council
Annual Parish Meeting
 
Brightwalton Parish Council would like to invite you to the Annual Parish Meeting at the Village Hall on
 
Monday 14th May 2018 at 7.30pm
 
The Annual Parish Meeting is a meeting of the Parish Electors.
All Electors are welcome to contribute towards the agenda and are invited to do so.
 
Agenda
 
Welcome & Introduction from Chairman
 
Representatives from the following groups have been invited:

• Parochial Church Council
• ASPIRE Project Team
• Village Hall Committee
• Brightwalton C of E Primary School
• Friends of Brightwalton School

The objective of the Parish Meeting this year is to discuss ideas on how we can build a wider
community spirit in Brightwalton, for the mutual benefit of everyone in the village.

As a Parish Council, we are very conscious of the importance of finding ways to build greater
levels of engagement and interaction from as many people as possible in the village (all of
which was supported in the recent village survey).

The ASPIRE project is the single biggest village project at the moment and if executed well
has the potential to positively impact a very large number of people from around the village
and through the school to an even larger group of people.
​
Come and join us for a glass of wine and a lively discussion on how we can get more people
engaged in Brightwalton
 
Comments / Questions from Parishioners
 
Any Other Business

Dear all

The Safari Supper is coming back to Brightwalton  - following the success of the last one, which was several years ago.

Hosts are beginning to prepare for the evening, where we can get together for drinks and canapes, followed by going to a local 'host' who will be providing a main dish.  We will then reconvene at the village hall, for puddings and coffee.

Attached are all of the details for the evening.

We very much hope you are around and look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes

The ASPIRE team 

The Pew Sheet for the 15th April can be downloaded here:

Please note a correction to the time of Café Church at Great Shefford given in the Pew Sheet and on the printed sheets on church noticeboards.  This service is at 10.00 and not 9.30 as stated.

Below is the Pew Sheet for Sunday 25th March 
 
Services in the West Downland Benefice this Sunday will be at:
  8.00am   Holy Communion (BCP) at Leckhampstead
  9.30am   Holy Communion at Shefford Woodlands
10.00am   Holy Communion at Brightwalton
 
Don’t forget that the clocks go forward this Sunday!

​Reverend Miri Keen

Press Release Date: 20 March 2018

West Berkshire to hold largest ever volunteering event
More than 80 organisations will be coming together next week (Thursday 29th March) to raise awareness of volunteering in the largest-ever event of its kind in West Berkshire.
The event aims both to promote the value of volunteering and highlight the help and support available to residents from community and voluntary sector organisations across the district. It’s a great opportunity for:

• Anyone supporting a relative or friend that needs help
• Residents who have moved to the area and want to get to know what is going on in the area
• Businesses looking to help in the community; and
• Potential volunteers or members of voluntary groups wanting to work with other groups

Among the 86 groups at the event will be groups providing children's services, older people's services, disability services, learning disability services, listening charities, Young Family support, some arts organisations, cancer charities, health services, mental health support, dementia support services, stop smoking help, befriending services, local transport services, local funders and much more.
The event has been organised by the Volunteer Centre West Berkshire in partnership with West Berkshire Council, the Health and Wellbeing Board and Awards for All. It takes place on Thursday 29th March, 2018 between 9.30am and 4.30pm at Newbury Racecourse.
The event will be formally opened by the Chairman of West Berkshire Council, Councillor Quentin Webb, at 11am.
Free return travel is available from Newbury town centre to the event, on local buses 9 and 123.  Hail either these services from Cheap Street (outside the Kennet Centre) and travel to the Rondetto Avenue stop at Newbury Racecourse.  
Speaking ahead of the event Gary Poulson, Director at the Volunteer Centre West Berkshire said: “In West Berkshire we have a thriving voluntary and community sector making a real difference in communities across the district. Through this event we want to raise awareness of the help and support all these groups are providing so that they can work more closely together and become an even more effective network of support for local people.
“This will be one of the largest volunteering events in the south of England in recent years with plenty of help and support on offer. I look forward to seeing everyone at the event next week.”
West Berkshire Council is among the organisations supporting the event. Chief Executive Nick Carter, from West Berkshire Council, added: “At the council we benefit directly from the energy, enthusiasm and hard work of volunteers in our libraries, supporting our countryside team and in many other different ways. We also recognise the value of the support of voluntary groups in supporting our residents so they don’t need to rely on council services. The work they do is very worthwhile and so we have been very happy to support this event and the voluntary sector in the district.”
To find out more about the Volunteer Centre West Berkshire visit www.volunteerwestberks.org.uk

Police helmets, Salisbury attack, policing for the Royal Wedding and more...

The March update from Deputy Police & Crime Commissioner, Matthew Barber can be found here:
​

Press Release from Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Wildlife Trusts

​Community conservation award launched for 2018
Community groups with projects aimed to improve their local area for both people and wildlife have the chance to win cash to help them succeed with their vision.
 
The Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust are calling on all local community projects which are beneficial to local people and wildlife to apply for the bi-annual Dorothy Morley Conservation Award 2018. Applicants will have the chance to win the award with £1000 to go towards the winning project. One runner up will also receive £500.
 
The award scheme which has been running since 2000 is a tribute to the memory of the dedicated conservationist Dorothy Morley. The continuation of the award scheme has been made possible through the outstanding generosity of the Morley family.
 
Daniel Akam, Berkshire Community Wildlife Officer explains: “This is a great award scheme aimed at highlighting all the great work done by volunteers for the benefit of their local community and wildlife a lot of which many off us don’t even know is going on”
 
“We want any group involved in such projects to apply, no matter how big or small or where they are located within Berkshire, the key element is that it must be in a publicly accessible place. Over the years we have had some great winners which have had a really positive effect on their local green spaces and for the communities which use them”
 
2016 winners were the St Paul’s Churchyard Tree Succession Project in Wokingham: Andy Clark from the project commented “We are all absolutely delighted with this award. It has been a great pleasure to be involved in a real team effort, with everyone contributing their different interest and expertise.
“In securing the future of the trees in the churchyard we have a growing appreciation that not only was the site home to a wide variety of flora and fauna, but also that this existing biodiversity could be greatly enhanced with careful planning and action.”
Full details about the Dorothy Morley Conservation Awards are on the Wildlife Trust’s website www.bbowt.org.uk/dorothymorley Application packs are also available from the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust, Woolley Firs, Cherry Garden Lane, Maidenhead, SL6 3LJ.
 
Interested groups have 4 months to apply with the closing date for applications on 29th June, with the winners being announced in late August.
 
For more information:  Daniel Akam, Community Wildlife Officer, dmaward@bbowt.org.uk  01628 829574 Ext. 202
http://www.bbowt.org.uk/dorothymorley
 
 

It is that time of year for pot holes everywhere. Please report problem pot holes directly to West Berkshire Council via the website

www.westberks.gov.uk
Follow the 'Report A Problem' link. 

Thank you - Brightwalton Parish Council 

Services in the West Downland Benefice this Sunday will be:
 
  8.00am   Holy Communion (BCP) at Fawley
10.00am   Café Church at Great Shefford
10.00am   Holy Communion at Chaddleworth
11.00am   Matins at Welford

The pew sheet can be found here

News, events and articles from the West Berkshire Countryside Society - Spring Newsletter