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Unveiled! The future for Newbury Town Centre

Whether it's to work, learn, shop, relax or simply somewhere to call home, Newbury is a beautiful place, with a rich and colourful heritage.

That's the driving force behind the Newbury Masterplan which was unveiled this week. It's a shared vision for future development of the town centre - ensuring it remains one of the most vibrant places in the south-east. You can read more about the Newbury Masterplan and what the future holds for the town centre here.

The Masterplan - which was shaped by more than 5,000 comments through two public consultations - will be discussed by the Executive on 10th February. You can watch the meeting live online here: https://www.westberks.gov.uk/executivelive

Premier League footballer opens new 3G pitch

A new full size 3G playing pitch at Denefield School in Tilehurst officially opened last week.

It was officially opened by Shandon Baptiste, a first team regular for Premier League side Brentford and an alumni of Denefield School.

The Third Generation (3G) synthetic pitch cost £730,000 and has been up and running since November. As well as being used daily by the school it has also become home to two partner football clubs, Westwood Wanderers and Barton Rovers at evenings and weekends.

The project was supported financially by a number of organisations including £150,000 from West Berkshire Council using cash from the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) - which uses income from developers to benefit communities.

Howard Woollaston, West Berkshire's Executive Member for Leisure and Culture, said,

"Leisure is a key priority for us and we are very pleased to have been able to support this project. This facility forms part of the Council's overall Playing Pitch Strategy and it's great to see students and partner clubs already using the pitch and we look forward to seeing many more enjoying it."

You can read more about the new 3G pitch on our website.

Following the next Executive meeting - live!

The next meeting of the Executive takes place tomorrow - and as usual will be streamed live for residents to follow on our YouTube channel.

Items on the agenda for discussion and decision include:

• The Newbury town centre masterplan
• Our budget for the year ahead
• The Domestic Abuse Safe Accommodation Strategy
• The Local Flood Risk Management Strategy.

There will also be questions from the public and from councillors. 

What is the Executive?

The Executive is the main decision-making body of the Council and comprises nine councillors. It takes key decisions – those that affect two or more wards or where decisions will have a significant impact on the Council’s budget. Each of the nine councillors has a specific area of responsibility (or portfolio) such as adult social care, environment and waste, and health and wellbeing. 

The Executive meets every six weeks at the Market Street offices in Newbury.

The meeting begins at 5pm tomorrow (Thursday 10 February) - you can read the agenda and watch the meeting here.

Cherry blossom trees create memorial to residents who died from Covid-19

Volunteers out tree planting in Pangbourne

Over the past year we've been working on a new initiative to provide a memorial to allow residents in the district to remember and reflect on the loss of those who have died as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Through our 'Blossom into Spring' initiative we've offered white flowering ornamental cherry blossom trees (‘Prunus Tai Haku’) to all town and parish councils in the district. So far, 30 councils have taken part with 113 cherry trees planted already - and more trees being planted this weekend.

The trees will provide a lasting memorial for residents to remember their loved ones, they will improve the district visually and contribute to carbon sequestration. By combining the beneficial elements of tree planting with the visual spectacle of spring blossoming trees we hope to create a living natural memorial and a point of reflection at a scale that echoes the loss of residents across the district.

We want to say a special thank you to everyone who took part in the planting, and our partners Continental Landscapes Ltd and Volker Highways for their delivery services.

Volunteers out tree planting in Basildon

New bin days introduced this week

New recycling and rubbish collection days have started! Please make sure to check your bin day and whether it is a recycling or black bin collection this week. To check your bin day online go to: www.westberks.gov.uk/binday For more information and to access our collection day changes FAQs, visit: www.westberks.gov.uk/bindaychanges

New webinar to support local landlords

We are looking to develop and support our working relationships with landlords and agents who own/manage/rent properties in the private rented sector. With this aim in mind, we will be running a virtual landlord webinar as a means of providing regulatory updates and sharing best practice of improving standards within private rented accommodation.

Our first webinar will take place on Thursday 10 February, 4:30pm-5:40pm, via zoom. We will cover topics such as:  

• DWP relating to Universal Credit claims and how to minimise rent arrears
• West Berkshire Council in relation to homelessness legislation
• West Berkshire Council’s new landlord initiatives
• Shaping the future of landlord engagement in the future for the area

This webinar will be part of wider landlord engagement, which will provide resources to support landlords across West Berkshire and Bracknell Forest.

You can read more and book your spot on the webinar via Eventbrite to receive your unique invite.

Educafe comes to Newbury Library

Educafe's Community Cafes are back and now we're delighted to be hosting them at Newbury Library. 

This friendly community café provides a safe space for people to make new friends, eat and learn. Drop in every Wednesday in February between 11am and 2pm to enjoy arts and crafts, games and puzzles, activities for parents with babies, IT support, a befriending service, our ‘chatty corner’ for anyone who wants to improve their English language skills, and lots more.

Refreshments provided – come and enjoy a chat and free cake. All welcome!

Children’s Mental Health Week

Place2Be is the UK's leading provider of schools based mental health support. They launched the first Children’s Mental Health Week in 2015 to shine a spotlight on the importance of children and young people’s mental health. Now in its seventh year, they hope to encourage more people than ever to get involved and spread the word.

The theme this year is ‘Growing Together’. Place2Be is encouraging children (and adults) to consider how they have grown emotionally, what they need to help them grow, and how they can help others to grow too.

West Berkshire supports children and young people’s mental health in a number of ways. Our Mental Health Support Team offer half termly Mental Health Surgeries with school staff. The surgeries include problem solving consultations around individual children and young people and their families that may be struggling, and help to identify and provide short term interventions for mild and moderate mental health difficulties.

They also work with schools on their Mental Health support, offering whole school staff training, parent workshops, school assemblies and class workshops.

Find out more about the week and Place2Be.

Help us shape your local pharmacy services

On behalf of the Berkshire local authorities, Healthy Dialogues is writing a pharmaceutical needs assessment (PNA) which looks at the health needs of the people who live in your area. As part of this we invite you to share your views around how you use your local pharmacy.

Your input is invaluable in helping to shape the future of your local pharmacy services. 

The survey is open until the end of February 2022.If you have any questions, please get in touch with Healthy Dialogues at PNA@healthydialogues.co.uk or 07825 571498. 

The survey will take no longer than 10 minutes: Public Engagement Survey

And finally...

• If you missed our recent Facebook Live event telling you more about how we spend your money, and answering your questions you can watch it back on YouTube.

• Applications for Additional Restrictions Grants close on Sunday 13 February. Funding is available to local businesses to pay for a project that will contribute to the recovery, growth and resilience of the business in an environmentally-friendly way.

• Congratulations - you made it to the end of the newsletter. We'd love your thoughts on our weekly bulletin so feel free to send us your feedback at pr@westberks.gov.uk