Welcome to Brightwalton News

​Please be aware a property in Butts Furlong will be advertised through the West Berkshire Choice Based Lettings Scheme, Homechoice, on Thursday 25th May 2023. This is a social rent property being advertised in accordance with a section 106 agreement.
 
The details are as follows: Butts Furlong, Brightwalton, Berkshire,
 
The property is a 2 bed house and is suitable for a maximum of 4
people.
 
Only households who are registered on the Common Housing Register will be eligible to bid on this property.
 
If you are not already on the Common Housing Register and you are interested in the above property, you will need to be registered with us by Wednesday 8th February 2023. To register before this date, please complete an application form online at www.homechoicewestberks.org.uk and then call the Housing Allocations Team on 01635 519530 option 1 to discuss your application. We will then assess your eligibility and application, allocating a banding according to your housing circumstances.
 
In allocating this particular property West Berkshire Council have to adhere to a strict criteria. This criteria gives households ordinarily resident in Brightwalton, or an adjoining parish, highest priority.
 
Please feel free to contact the Housing Allocations Team on 01635 519530 option 1 if you require further information on any of the above.
 
Further information on Home Choice West Berks can be found at www.homechoicewestberks.org.uk

If​ I look back over the 10 years that I have been Chairman of the Parish Council, I feel proud of the great team of Councillors we have, what they have achieved and the sense of Community Spirit they bring to the role. This is my last year that I will be reporting back to you.

As always it has been a busy year for the village. The highlights of the year have been :
The appointment of Katherine Moore into the new role of Brightwalton Village Co-ordinator. Having raised the funding for a 2 year project as part of the ASPIRE programme, we were delighted to welcome Katherine into this new role. Within her first three months she has launched a Youth Club drawing in 18 primary school aged children. The Church Mouse Soup Kitchen is live and being run by Diane Widborne and Sue Sayers. So far 3 Soup lunches have been hosted. There is lots more being planned including several concerts, craft activities and sales, most of which are making good use of the new kitchen and area at the back of the church.
​
We had a wonderful turnout for the Jubilee picnic on the playing field and the Coronation picnic more recently.

2018 – 2019 Parish Council Summary – Shaun Orpen, Chairman
The backdrop to the year is that we are seeing more cuts in services from West Berks as they continue to need to find creative ways to operate within their shrinking budgets.
 
This has a knock-on effect on Parish Councils who are required to be more self-sufficient on some of the services, such as topping up salt bins.
 
The priority at the start of the year was finding a cost-effective solution to the maintenance of the playing field. The new Scofell contract seems to be working well (all be it with a recent hiccup). Thanks should also go to the Breadmore’s who have kindly taken on the mowing of the playground which has been a great help.
 
Considerable time has been spent in supporting the Holt with their bid to get traffic calming measures in place on the road through the Holt. By using Section 106 money we were able to get the Council to install “entrance gate” signage at each end of the Holt. Regrettably, on advice, the case to get a further reduction in speed limit was not compelling enough for us to take forward at this time; however, we continue to push the case.
 
We helped find a new chairman to take on the leadership and revitalisation of the village fete. This has led to a very successful re-invigoration of energy and enthusiasm, which translated, into greater attendance and a significant increase in takings for the village hall. A big thank you to Jeremy Snow and his team.
 
We continue to actively support the ASPIRE project, as the single largest and most significant project being undertaken in the village at this time. This is progressing to final approvals from the DAC (Diocesan Advisory Committee). A launch plan for the major fundraising has been prepared and is in the process of being finalised. Importantly this plan is as much about “getting more people engaged in the village community” as it is about “fundraising”. If anyone is interested in getting involved in whatever capacity please let us know.
 
There has been some significant tree maintenance at both Dunmore Pond and the Old Church Yard, which will need to be continued over the next few years on a managed basis.
 
We are very sorry to announce that Jackie Boxall has decided to step down from the Parish Council after 20 years’ service as Councillor, Clerk and Chairman. We are hugely grateful for her time and dedication to the village for so many years. She has been a great asset and will be sorely missed.
 
To replace Jackie. I am very grateful to Annie Agnew who has kindly stepped forward. To that end, I would like to welcome Annie who has now been co-opted onto the Parish Council.
 
In conclusion, we ended the year £160 under our budget plan of £6,700. We have either spent or have plans in place for spending the remaining Community Infrastructure Levy money.
 
Finally, as we turn our attention to the next year, we continue to focus on the plans and objectives outlined in the ongoing Parish Plan.

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

Brand new safety surface installed at the playground. Many thanks for the 4 volunteers that removed the existing woodchip and spread 4 tonnes of the new rubber surface. This new surface is one of the safest available, it is durable will not rot away like the bark and deters animals from using it.
​The new surface was purchased with the help from local developer contributions and a West Berkshire Council Parish Plan Grant.

 
Broadband Upgrade
West Berkshire Superfast Broadband Team have sent the PC the following notice, I think it may be of interest to those on the outskirts of the village:-
​"We have been informed by BT that they have recently upgraded Cabinet 1 on the Chaddleworth Exchange which is located within your parish. This increased the capacity by an additional 53 spaces. Some residents/businesses may be registered on the waiting list and presumably be contacted by their ISP. However, others may have been put off / frustrated and be in the dark about the recent upgrade.
 
If you have any communications channels that will help inform the residents/businesses in the Brightwalton Parish Council community area (such as social media, parish magazine, parish website, notice boards, community groups/meetings etc.) then this will help raise awareness to anyone who’s property is served by this cabinet and is currently unable to get a access to superfast broadband.
 
Residents/businesses can check which cabinet their property comes under by using BT’s wholesale checker website https://www.btwholesale.com/includes/adsl/main.htmland then selecting an Internet Service Provider (ISP) of their choice from the list on the BT Openreach’s website https://www.homeandwork.openreach.co.uk/when-can-i-get-fibre.aspx.."

The Brightwalton Parish Council meeting was held on the 21st November in the Village Hall from 8pm. Several Parishioners attended the meeting to discuss the recent accidents in the Holt and the Speed Limit on the B4494 through Brightwlaton Holt. Please see the attached minutes for full details.