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 We’re excited that work on our £4.6 million refurbishment project for Northcroft Leisure Centre in Newbury will start in September.
We’ll be working with our leisure partner Everyone Active to transform Northcroft into a state-of-the-art facility as part of our commitment to continuously improving and strengthening our local leisure offer and so it can continue to be enjoyed for years to come.
The exciting plans include:
- A larger gym with top-of-the-range equipment
- A new dedicated cycle studio
- Dedicated gym changing rooms for added convenience
- A larger and improved soft play area for children to enjoy
- The addition of a café
- An overall improved look and feel throughout the leisure centre
This upgrade follows the recent refurbishment of the beautiful Lido there.
Further refurbishments are planned for other leisure centres in West Berkshire, including Kennet Leisure Centre in Thatcham and Hungerford Leisure Centre.
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Council Strategy 2023 - 2027 |
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 Our Council Strategy for 2023 to 2027 sets out the strategic direction for the Council's services. It defines our priorities over the next four years and our contribution toward the aspirations of the West Berkshire Vision 2036.
The strategy ensures that all our services are working together to deliver these priorities, whilst providing all the important mandatory services our residents need. Find out more here.
We are producing a series of videos to showcase what our strategy means for you. The first in the series explains the overall strategy itself.
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 Whooping cough (pertussis) cases continue to rise across the UK, with 2,591 cases confirmed in May 2024 compared with 858 cases for the whole of 2023.
The infection can be serious for babies who are too young to start their vaccinations and can lead to complications resulting in hospitalisation and even death.
The pertussis vaccination in pregnancy helps to protect people who are pregnant and young babies against serious illness. The NHS encourages those who are pregnant to come forward, and for staff who come into contact with them to signpost or offer this vaccination at every opportunity.
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Keep up to date on road closures in your area by using the map of roadworks, including those of utility companies, on our website to plan your journeys. Click the link below for more information.
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 Recently, we received our one millionth online booking!
We launched our online booking system back in 2019, for tickets to events at Shaw House, West Berkshire Museum, our Family Hubs and one-off events like our Climate Change Conference. In 2020, we started taking online appointment bookings Household Waste Recycling Centres to help cut queues, waiting times, and more.
We're always looking to improve our online booking processes, and will be expanding to more services over the next 12 months to make booking services even easier for our residents
For more information, visit our website.
 Our Shared Lives team are proud to have received a recognition award at the Castle School World of Work celebration 2024 for offering a work experience placement to a pupil called Oliver. During Oliver’s time in the office, he proved to be a brilliant addition to the team bringing lots of positivity to work!
The Shared Lives scheme allows you to share your home and life with someone who needs care and wants to be part of a family. If that sounds like you, then you could be a Shared Lives Carer. The scheme matches people by interests, experiences and lifestyles, giving adults in need of support a chance to gain skills to live a more independent life. Find out more here.
We want your views on proposed amendments to the parking order for Council car parks across the district – specifically off-street parking. This follows a decision made at the Full Council meeting on 29 February on the fees and charges for 2024/25.
The proposed order amendments include the formal changes to the car park charges and the exemptions for blue badge holders, limiting free parking to three hours with charges applying thereafter.
This amendment Order is part of the statutory process to implement these charges and aims to:
• Establish a consistent charging regime across the district.
• Generate income to support maintenance and enforcement activities across all Council car parks, in line with Department for Transport guidelines on improving compliance with parking restrictions, whilst supporting the district economy.
• Enhance the availability of disabled parking spaces.
Your input is valuable. To have your say, please complete our survey by midnight on Friday, 2 August.
New fees and charges will also be coming into effect on Monday, 5 August for on street parking and for coach and bus parking at Newbury Wharf. You can view details of these new charges here:
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Anyone can watch our Council and Committee meetings in person at our Market Street offices in Newbury and live on our YouTube channel to view the important decisions made by councillors on issues such as planning, waste services and schools.
Upcoming public meetings include:
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 We’ve teamed up with the brilliant Swings and Smiles, an accessible play facility for disabled children to broaden our Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme over the summer holidays and create a specific SEND provision.
Swings and Smiles provide support, friendship and play for children with special needs and their families and we’re so excited to have them on board. We want to make HAF as inclusive as possible and for as many children as possible to enjoy Swings and Smiles, so please share our news to help make this happen.
To find out more, email office@swingsandsmiles.co.uk
See our full HAF summer programme here.
Our Local Offer includes information about the services, support and activities available for children and young people aged 0-25 with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in West Berkshire. It's a guide to what you can expect to find in our area and how you can access those services.
We'd like to know if you're aware of our West Berkshire SEND Local Offer website, and if so, can you easily find the information you need. We also want to know if you have any suggestions for information you’d like to see on the website.
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 It’s SATS results time and we want to congratulate all of our Year 6 students! Everyone should be very proud of their results. Well done to all involved.
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Shaw House Summer Fair this weekend! |
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Enjoy the beauty of summer at Shaw House. Browse over 60 local stalls located on the Great Lawn and enjoy refreshments from our café, bar and caterers. For our younger visitors there will be creative crafts, a magic show, meet and greet the Shetland ponies and a bouncy castle.
Don’t forget to bring along your four-legged friends as the National Animal Welfare Trust will be hosting a dog show with categories including ‘perfect puppy’, ‘golden oldie’ and ‘radiant rescue’.
The House and Exhibition Rooms will also be open on the day.
Dogs on leads are welcome outside.
Sunday 21 July | Shaw House | 11am – 4pm | Adults £2, Children £1 (Free for children aged 3 years and under) | Pay on the door
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And finally...
- If you live or work in West Berkshire and would like to find out about key developments and innovations linked to our Special Educational Needs and Disabilities services, you can find regular updates and stories via our newly launched 'Innovation in SEND' blog.
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