Newbury Town Centre Pedestrianisation Deferred
Proposals which would see Newbury town centre pedestrianised for longer each day have been deferred.
Our intention was to run a trial scheme with pedestrianisation in place from 10am until midnight each day. The trial was planned to begin on Monday 14 August, to boost the Festival of the Moon events and the night-time economy over the summer months.
Research carried out for the Newbury Town Centre Masterplan and further research by the Business Improvement District (BID) and Newbury Town Council both showed significant support for extended pedestrianisation of the town centre.
However, we have reluctantly had to defer the trial pedestrianisation for now. Essential road works which will be taking place elsewhere in Newbury over the coming months will put extra pressure on the road system meaning the trial would not be representative of the normal traffic situation when the impact of the trial is assessed.
At the same time the Department for Transport (DfT) has finally provided a response to our request for an Experimental Traffic Regulation Order (ETRO).
Disappointingly, the DfT took weeks to respond, despite regular chasing from officers. It requires further dialogue with DfT to clarify a number of points and until this is received we are not able to proceed with our preferred approach.
Defra Farming Innovation Investor Partnership
Small and medium sized farming businesses will be able to apply for a share of £5m in grant funding for innovations that increase sustainable food production.
The Farming Innovation Investor Partnership competition is aimed at agricultural projects that have demonstrated the potential to grow and generate revenue, supporting the commercialisation of on-farm technologies that can then be rolled out across the industry.
As well as sustainable food production, the grant programme focuses on driving progress to net zero, improving farm resilience and support nature recovery.
The scheme is an extension of the £270m Farming Innovation Programme which has provided £100m for projects including autonomous livestock monitoring systems, robotic fruit harvesting systems, concentrated light weeding using AI, intelligent robotic cow cubicles and digital crop management for the early detection of glasshouse pests and diseases.
For the latest funding, businesses can bid for up to 45% of project costs in grants which must be matched by at least twice the amount in private investment. Projects must be led by a sole UK registered micro, small, or medium-sized business.
Applications are open but close soon at 10am on Wednesday 30 August 2023.
The scheme is funded by the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, run in partnership with UK Research & Innovation and delivered by Innovate UK. Full details about the Farming Innovation Investor Partnership competition are here.
Solar Together
 We are working in partnership with Solar Together Berkshire to help local homeowners and small businesses turn sunlight into electricity by investing into renewables through a group-buying scheme for solar panels and battery storage.
West Berkshire residents and small businesses can join this group-buying scheme which offers not just solar panels, but optional battery storage and EV charge points too. There's also retrofit battery storage for residents who have already invested in solar panels and are just looking to get more from the renewable energy they generate whilst increasing their independence from the grid.
Registrations close soon so don’t miss out on this opportunity this summer! It is free to register and there is no obligation to go ahead with an installation.
Festival of the Moon: Outdoor cinema
 On Sunday 20 August there will be an outdoor cinema event held at the Wharf Newbury. This is part of the summer’s Festival of the Moon fun-filled line-up, which is being run by Newbury BID (Business Improvement District) who are the not-for-profit organisation behind Visit Newbury. The festival takes place across various venues in Newbury from 15 August to 3 September and has over 100 exciting moon related events and activities ranging from yoga & wellness sessions to live music, full moon parties, and free talks with renowned scientists!
The Town Centre Programme at West Berkshire Council are supporting the event, as this is an opportunity to use the Wharf space. The findings in the Newbury Masterplan highlighted the Wharf as an area of priority to improve and there are plans to redevelop the area into a new multi-purpose space.
The vision entails transforming the car park within the Wharf into a new social and events space, which will have the capacity to hold events, improve visitor experience in the town centre and in doing so providing a new attraction within Newbury Town centre.
Due to this we will be hosting a fantastic outdoor cinema at the Wharf. The outdoor cinema will be run by local outdoor cinema and audio-visual experts, AV Events. The cinema will be continuing with the moon theme showing Despicable Me 2 at 13.30 and First Man at 16.00.
It is recommended to bring your own camping chairs or blankets to sit on as there will be very limited beanbags available on a first come basis. Sound will be provided by silent disco headsets, allowing everyone to set the volume individually.
To find out more about the Festival of the Moon and its programme of events, please visit: https://visitnewbury.org.uk/festival-of-the-moon
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