Wokingham

Thames Valley Police is appealing for witnesses after a wing mirror to wing mirror collision involving two vehicles in Sindlesham, Wokingham on Friday (11/5).

At about 5.30pm, a blue Vauxhall Corsa driving along Mole Road, Sindlesham, between Nirvana Spa and Arborfield Garrison, collided with a silver car travelling in the opposite direction, away from Arborfield Garrison.

As a result of the Wokingham collision, the drivers-side window of the Corsa was smashed.

It is believed that the silver vehicle is a Renault, as its broken wing mirror was left on the scene.

The driver of the blue Vauxhall Corsa, a woman aged 18, sustained minor cuts to her hands and was treated by paramedics on the scene.

PC Gareth Miles, from Three Mile Cross roads policing team, said: “I would like to hear from anyone who saw the collision, or anyone who noticed a silver vehicle fitting the above description with a wing mirror missing.”

Anyone with information should contact PC Miles via the 24-hour Police Enquiry Centre on 101.

If you don’t want to speak directly to the police you can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at crimestoppers-uk.org.

Thames Valley Police ~ Wokingham

If you are looking for things do with your spare time this could be your chance to find out exactly what opportunities are available locally.

Wokingham Library is hosting an information day about leisure, learning and volunteering across the borough, on Saturday May 19 between 11am and 3pm.

Local organisations with information stands on the day include St Crispin’s Leisure Centre, the University of the Third Age – U3A, Next Step, Learndirect, Wokingham Job Support Centre, Optalis, Shine, Bracknell and Wokingham College, Apprenticeships, Wokingham Bowling Club, Wokingham Information Centre, Wokingham Flower Club, The Link Visiting Scheme, Downshire Golf and the Wokingham Society.

So if you are over 18 and would like to learn more, why not drop-in and have a chat? Alternatively, if you are a member of a group or organisation keen to take part in the day, please contact Joyce Stoner on 0118 9746 275 to book a pitch.

Refreshments will be available to purchase throughout the day in the library café.

Wokingham Borough Council

Thorough investigations by Wokingham Borough Council this week into rumours of dog poisoning at a local nature reserve have found no toxins or any evidence to substantiate these claims.

It had been reported in the media that two dogs sadly died within a week of each other after visiting Heathlake Local Nature Reserve, following rumours spread on social media and in some parts of the community claiming their deaths were caused by poison.

In response the Wokingham council and Thames Valley Police immediately advised dog owners to be vigilant, while these claims were investigated. Warning posters were also erected at the Heathlake site.

Chris Buggy, countryside co-ordinator for Wokingham Borough Council, said: “There have been no other reported deaths or illnesses reported by local veterinary practices that can be related to this reserve, or any other sites in the area.

“Other reports of incidents at The Look Out and Dinton Pastures have also proved to be unsubstantiated. Both the Countryside Service and Environmental Health Team have been involved. They looked at everything.

“The Countryside Service also made a number of site visits to the reserves and found nothing untoward. We do hope this puts dog walkers’ minds at rest and helps them when making decisions about where to exercise their dogs.

“We will of course continue to monitor the situation; and for no other reason than to raise awareness, continue to leave the warning notices up at Heathlake.”

Wokingham Borough Council

Anyone using a disabled parking scheme blue badge is being reminded to use it correctly and for its intended purpose after a crackdown by Wokingham Borough Council.

The Wokingham council’s parking enforcement team and business assurance officers worked together with Thames Valley Police on Friday April 13 in Woodley to make sure that blue parking badges, which provide a range of parking and motoring concessions for people with disabilities, are being used correctly. The aim is to make sure that those who need to access disabled parking facilities are not being prevented from doing so by those using the scheme or badges incorrectly or fraudulently.

During the exercise, over 120 badges were checked with drivers being advised on when and how they should be using disabled parking badges and bays. One blue badge was seized by the police as the holder of the badge was not present at the time of its use.

Blue badge fraud is an increasing problem across the country and has led to new eligibility and enforcement powers to combat the misuse of badges.

Wokingham Borough Council’s director of business assurance and democratic services Muir Laurie said: “This initiative was extremely well received by the public and the team will be conducting further similar operations throughout the borough.

“The most common misuse was disabled parking bays being used when the blue badge holder was staying in the vehicle. Disabled parking bays are to enable the person holding the blue badge to have easier access to local businesses and community amenities; it is not free parking for their families. In these cases, the usual pay and display parking facilities should be used to allow disabled parking bays to be available for other badge holders.”

Anyone concerned about the misuse of a disabled blue badge can report them in confidence to the whistleblowing hotline on (0118) 974 6550 or via email at: confidential.whistleblowing@wokingham.gov.uk.

Wokingham Borough Council

Wokingham Borough Council is pleased to support the launch of the new ‘Good Egg Guide for Parents of New Drivers’ and will be distributing free copies in response to requests from parents as well as through young driver initiatives.

Nearly eight out of ten parents surveyed (78%) fear their son or daughter will be involved in a car crash according to new research by Good Egg Safety.

The survey also shows that one in three mums and dads (29%) also think their children drive too fast while 10% of parents worry that their children will be tempted to send or check text messages behind the wheel. One in ten parents (10%) are also concerned their child will drink or take drugs when driving.

The survey of more than 1,000 parents was carried out ahead of the launch of the new ‘Good Egg Guide for Parents of New Drivers’. With an average of one in five drivers actually being involved in a crash in their first six months of driving, free copies of the guide are being made available to concerned parents throughout the UK in a bid to reduce casualties.

Julie Pillai, Wokingham road safety officer, said: “This new publication will help parents guide their youngsters to being a safe driver and avoid pitfalls such as distraction, peer pressure and overconfidence. Keeping young drivers safe on our roads is a priority in our road safety programme and, along with our pre-driver Drive Start training programme (application details can be found at: www.wokingham.gov.uk/drive-start), aims to reduce casualties among new drivers and their passengers.”

To request a Good Egg Guide for Parents of New Drivers please contact the Road Safety Team on (0118) 974 6387.

Wokingham Borough Council

Wokingham libraries have an action-packed schedule.

On Saturday May 19 from 11am to 3pm, Wokingham Library will be hosting a special information day about leisure, learning and volunteering opportunities in the Borough for people of all ages. Anyone interested in exhibiting information on the day should contact Joyce Stoner on (0118) 974 6275.

Three new book groups for adults are starting in May. A group for carers will be meeting in Wokingham Library on the first Wednesday morning of each month from 10.30am. Anyone who cares for others and who has an interest in books is welcome to join the group. Generation X is a new group for those in their twenties or thirties who like a good read. The group will meet on the fourth Monday in each month, with the first meeting on Monday May 28 from 6.15pm. Finchampstead Library will be launching a new evening book group, meeting on the fourth Thursday evening in each month between 6pm and 7pm.

Any queries about book groups can be sent to: bookgroups@wokingham.gov.uk.

If residents are feeling creative, the jewellery craft workshops could be just for them. Popular tutor Karen Carter will be running three sessions during the month. She will be running Learn to Make Layered Necklaces on Tuesday May 15, Beautiful Bracelets on May 22 and Flowers and Dragonflies on May 29. The workshops run from 10.30am to 12.30pm and cost £5 plus materials. Places should be booked by calling Wokingham Library on (0118) 978 1368.

Best-selling novelist Sarah Duncan will be running a workshop entitled Craft Techniques for Writers that aims to help writers improve their craft skills. The session includes exercises and practical advice to help with creating vivid characters, memorable dialogue and developing page-turning story lines. The workshop has a £10 charge and is on Saturday May 26 between 10am and 1pm, call Wokingham Library on (0118) 978 1368 to book a place.

Costume historian Gillian Stapleton will be returning to Wokingham Library to present 200 Years of Royal Brides on Wednesday May 20 from 2pm. In this presentation, Gillian will follow the courtships and marriages of seven Royal women, from Princess Charlotte of Wales in 1816 to Miss Catherine Middleton in 2011, uncovering all manner of intriguing, moving and surprisingly romantic stories along the way. The event will include refreshments as part of the Jubilee celebrations and takes place at Wokingham Library. Tickets cost £5 and should be booked by calling the library on (0118) 978 1368.

There are also numerous regular events taking place in libraries throughout the borough, including Knit and Natter sessions, chess, scrabble and board games clubs, bridge and cribbage sessions and family history drop-in advice sessions.

Reader development officer Heather Dyson said: “We are pleased to have such a great variety of events taking place during May – there really is something for everyone.”
Details of all Wokingham Borough Library events can be found at: www.wokingham.gov.uk/libraries

Wokingham Borough Council

Wokingham Borough Council has successfully prosecuted a number of people across the borough in recent months for failing to comply with planning regulations.

The Wokingham council experienced a fourfold increase in planning enforcement issues during 2011 and has substantially more in the pipeline this year.

So the message is this – if you breach or flout planning regulations you could end up in court.

Liquor Direct Ltd at 27 Denmark Street, in Ruislip was prosecuted at Reading Magistrates Court on March 30 for four offences of illegally displaying advertisements. The company was found guilty in its absence and fined £500 for each offence (£2,000 in total), as well as £300 prosecution costs and a £15 victim surcharge.

Ozlem Satlik of the Kebab shop at 42 Station Road, Wokingham was prosecuted on March 7 at Slough Magistrates Court for five offences of displaying advertisements without the relevant permission from the council. She was fined £100 per offence (£500 in total) and ordered to pay £2,245.35 costs and a £15 victim surcharge.

Ruben Reed of Fairlands, Church Lane, Farley Hill was fined £3,000, £815 costs and a £15 victim surcharge at Reading Magistrates Court in January (16.01.12) for non-compliance with a planning enforcement notice. Following an appeal hearing at Crown Court on March 16 the fine was reduced to £2,000, although the other orders stayed the same (totalling £830). The enforcement notice was served because Mr Reed had built a large barn in the countryside without planning permission. The enforcement notice requires this barn to be demolished.

Father and son, David and Kevin Rixon of Lower Rivermead Farm in Wargrave were fined £8,000, £840 costs and a £30 victim surcharge at Reading last November (23.11.11) for non-compliance with a planning enforcement notice. The notice was served because the couple had built a house in the Green Belt without planning permission. Again this notice requires the house to be demolished.

Mark Cupit, head of Wokingham development management, said: “I’m happy to say that most residents follow the correct planning application requirements or, if accidentally failing to do so, remedy this quickly when it comes to light.

“In these cases however, the council has had to follow a very lengthy and expensive exercise to ensure the correct outcome.

“I hope this gives due warning that Wokingham Borough Council will pursue those who blatantly ignore the council’s and national planning policies.”

To find our more about planning regulations for both residents and businesses visit www.wokingham.gov.uk and click on Planning Control on the left hand side.

Wokingham Borough Council

Over the past few days, local people in the Norreys area of Wokingham have been voting on projects to benefit the whole community as part of Wokingham Borough Council’s Community Budget.

Projects ranging from healthy living to community gardens have won funding over the past 12 months. And at the next Norreys Community Forum on April 24, the local community will vote on which project(s) will be awarded the remaining funds from the Community Fund.

Representatives from the three short-listed projects will attend the forum to present their case and answer any questions the local community may have. They are:

JAC (Just Around the Corner)

JAC will be running various Wokingham projects from the Pavilion (football changing rooms) in Elizabeth Park. Funding is requested to help support the Governments Change for Life initiative. JAC will be setting up clinics to help people lose weight, stop smoking, and generally improve the health of residents in the Norreys area.

Wednesday Club (run by Norreys Church)

This is a weekly youth club for primary school age children that has been running for a many years. Recent budget cuts have meant that fruit cannot be offered to young people during the evening any more. Funding is requested so that fruit can be provided again.

Wokingham (North) Community First Responders

A group of local volunteers who have been trained by South Central Ambulance Service to attend 999/life threatening callouts in the Norreys area. Funding is requested as a contribution towards annual running costs. The group is also looking into purchasing a navigation software tool which will help pinpoint the exact location of a caller’s address.

Voting papers describing the projects have been delivered to households in the area and ballot boxes have been placed in many locations including the community flat in Eustace Crescent, All Saints Primary School, Wokingham, All Saints Church, Brambles Children’s Centre, Burma Hills Surgery, and Norreys Church.

Local residents have until the evening of the April 24 to cast their vote at the community forum. They can also vote online at: www.wokinghambsp.gov.uk/norreys-neighbourhoodproject/community-budget.

More Arts will also be attending the Norreys Community Forum to discuss what they can offer local residents. They will also be joined by Linda Newport who will give a presentation on the community gardening project and the aim of developing a community garden. The community forum is also a good chance for local people to raise issues of concern to them and also for people to tell others what they and their organisations are doing or planning to do.

The Norreys Community Forum will take place at 7pm on April 24 at All Saints School, Norreys Avenue, Wokingham. All residents of the Norreys ward may attend.
Rose Green, WBC’s senior community development worker, said: “The community budget is a great way for local people to have a real say in how the council spends its funds. I do hope everyone will take the opportunity to get involved.”

Wokingham Borough Council

Consultation has now finished (April 6) to gauge public opinion over proposed improvements to the road network around Wokingham railway station and Barkham Road level crossing.

Wokingham Borough Council’s three-month consultation attracted more then 700 responses and will now be fully analysed. This is expected to take several weeks.

The consultation was carried out via drop-in road show exhibitions across the borough, through the council website and on Facebook and Twitter. A letter and information leaflet was also sent out to more than 2,300 local residents, businesses and key stakeholders.

Wokingham Borough Council is working together with Network Rail and South West Trains over the proposals to make major improvements to Wokingham railway station.

A key part of the multi-million pound scheme is a link road between the station forecourt and A329 Reading Road.

The aim is to tackle traffic congestion – one of the council’s key priorities as part of its Vision – and together with the new station building create a pivotal gateway into the town centre.

Responses and feedback received from the public during the consultation will help shape the final design of the station link road. It is hoped that a planning application for the plans will be submitted in July.

Stephen Reed, station link road project manager, said: “This was a pre-planning consultation exercise in line with the council’s commitment to ensure Wokingham’s residents are as involved in this scheme as much as they possibly can be.

“But it doesn’t end here. People will still be able to make any representations they wish during the usual planning application process.”

Wokingham Borough Council

At a meeting of the Town Centre Forum last week (April 3), Wokingham Borough Council and its partners Wilson Bowden outlined how work on the town centre regeneration scheme has been moving forward following the public consultation last summer. Some key points highlighted from the consultation were:

# Overwhelming support for a need to regenerated the town centre
# Identity of Wokingham as a market town
# Getting the right mix of shops and differentiating Wokingham from Reading and Bracknell
# Creating an improved setting for the town hall and responding to the town’s heritage
# Minimising congestion and providing parking within the town
# Creating a flexible and more useable town centre park

The team shared how in the last year it has been working closely with the council’s planning team on developing a scheme which works for the town. This has included discussions on how the scheme will work as part of the overall road network, helping to develop a parking strategy for the town, building on ideas for the open space and investigating the different architectural elements that make up Wokingham’s heritage.

It also discussed how, despite the difficult national economy, Wokingham has continued to survive and grow with strong interest from retailers in coming into the town. The team has spent the last year in negotiations with potential anchor stores and it plans to announce the name of the new foodstore operator later this summer.

Building upon the consultation event last summer, the regeneration team is planning another public event this May, concentrating on the designs for the open space. This event will give local people the opportunity to discuss the kind of facilities they would like to see in the town centre park and how the park can be designed to work best for a wide range of different uses.

Further details of the public consultation event will be published shortly and the council hopes that a variety of different groups will attend so that they can have their say in the future of this exciting local park.

Bernie Pich, head of regeneration at Wokingham Borough Council, said: “We’re pleased to hear the positive comments from the forum about how the scheme is responding to last summer’s consultation feedback. The public voice has been key in getting the project right and will continue to be so as we move forward with the regeneration.”

Will Robinson, commercial director for Wilson Bowden, said: “Wokingham high street has been the hot topic in the news over the past six months with reports like the Mary Portas Review and Javelin research into town centres showing that they will either thrive or die depending upon how they can stand out from the crowd and re-create themselves as destinations.

“With the existing empty shops schemes and programme of events through the year, as well as strong local support for the town already in place, we feel that Wokingham has the ability to thrive and become an inspirational town for the local area.”
The development agreement is due to be signed later this month (April). The borough council and Wilson Bowden will be working together during the next 12 months to secure planning consent for the regeneration scheme. Full public consultation will also take place as part of this process.

Wokingham Borough Council