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Saturday 5 April, 10:30 AM – 3 PM
Venue St Bartholomew’s School, Newbury, RG14 6JP
Join GreenFest Newbury for a FREE day of sustainability, advice, talks, crafts, stalls and creativity!
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GreenFest 2025 will inspire, educate, and enthuse with engaging stalls, free hands-on activities, fascinating free talks by experts in their field, as well as delicious food & drink vendors, and great music from Kennet Radio.
Best of all, entry, all activities, and talks are FREE and suitable for all the family.
What’s going on…
🌱 Food Zone – Enjoy fresh, local produce, compost demos, seed sowing, rewilding projects, vegan recipes, and eco-friendly finds! 🍓🌍
🏡 Home Zone – Learn energy-saving tips, explore renewables, and grab eco-friendly freebies! 🌞💡
🚗 Travel Zone – Bust the EV myths and discover sustainable travel tips! ⚡️🌱
🐾 Nature Zone – Explore wildlife gardening, plant swaps, apple pruning, and local projects. Plus, enjoy wildlife photography and fundraising merch! 🌳🍏
💚 Community Zone – Join drumming lessons, climate campaigns, arts for activism, tree planting, and DIY bird feeders! 🥁🌧️
🛍️ Stuff Zone – Learn about ESG, refillable products, Kintsugi repairing, knitting, and rock painting! ♻️🎨
Full list of GreenFest FREE talks here
We will be on hand offering waste and recycling advice, guidance on EV charging, plus, sustainable transport and energy options.
West Berkshire Councillors and officers will be attending GreenFest to support this important event.
Some of the West Berkshire Council teams represented at the event include our Waste Management, Transport and Highways among others. We look forward to meeting residents and community groups at the display stands to help address any questions you may have about Council services and sustainability.
Real nappies, also known as cloth nappies or reusable nappies, are a modern take on the traditional cloth nappies, offering a chemical-free and often more cost-effective option for parents and carers.
How they work:
Real nappies consist of a waterproof outer layer (often made of PUL - Polyurethane Laminate) and a highly absorbent inner layer (often made of cotton, bamboo, or hemp).
Environmental: Reusable nappies reduce waste compared to disposable nappies, which can take up to 500 years to decompose.
Cost-effective: While the initial investment can be higher, real nappies can save money in the long run compared to buying disposable nappies.
Health: Some parents prefer real nappies for their baby's skin, as they can be more breathable and less likely to cause nappy rash compared to some disposable nappies.
Care: Real nappies are easy to care for and can be washed and reused multiple times.
Using reusable 'real' nappies can save you money in the long run as well as cutting down on waste saving space in black bins. Each pack contains: 2 real nappies, 1 washable nappy bag, 10 disposable liners, 1 washable liner, 1 set of instructions.
To apply for a FREE trial pack, click here: Apply for a real nappy pack - West Berkshire Council.
We will also be attending GreenFest Newbury on Saturday 5 April so come and see us on the West Berkshire Council Waste Team stand.
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 West Berkshire Council is once again proud to be supporting Keep Britain Tidy’s Great British Spring Clean.
This year’s campaign, which takes place from 21 March to 6 April, calls on families, neighbours, friends, and colleagues to join forces to show they love where they live by taking part in the mass action litter pick by pledging to pick a bag of litter from local areas to protect our communities and precious wildlife habitats.
The charity reports that last year:
- 97% of participants agreed that they felt they had made a difference to their local area.
- 84% of people who took part in the Great British Spring Clean agreed that they felt more pride for their local area.
If you are organising a community clean-up event for The Great British Spring Clean, West Berkshire Council greatly appreciates your efforts in protecting our vibrant communities and precious wildlife habitats.
#LitterHeroes, log your litter picks here!
Due to very high demand, our litter-picking equipment that we loan out to community groups is already booked out but we encourage residents to get involved by seeking alternatives: www.westberks.gov.uk/communitylitterpick.
 West Berkshire Council has installed new cycle direction signs between Newbury and Thatcham town centres.
The new signs have the local ‘Linkways’ branding, which is gradually being rolled out to identify main routes for cycling.
The signs also show average cycling time in minutes to destinations such as the Nature Discovery Centre.
Encouraging and enabling active travel fits with the Council Strategy Priority of tackling the Climate and Ecological emergency, by offering many residents an alternative for some or all of their local, shorter-distance journeys.
Walking and Cycling Maps and Routes - West Berkshire Council
Exciting news for Springfield Primary School in Tilehurst! From 2nd June 2025, a School Streets Programme will be introduced to create a safer, healthier environment for children and families. Vehicles will be restricted during school drop-off and pick-up times, this initiative aims to reduce congestion, improve air quality, and make roads safer for everyone.
Local roads, including Barton Road, Woodbridge Road, Highbury Road, and Jenner Walk, will have restricted vehicle access during these times:
🕗 Morning: 8:15 am – 9:15 am
🕝 Afternoon: 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm
This scheme encourages walking, cycling, and scooting to school, benefiting both children and the community supporting a cleaner, greener, and safer school journey!
For full details, visit: www.westberks.gov.uk/school-streets-about.
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West Berkshire Community Connect on-demand bus service started in 2024 firstly with the Northwest Downlands service which connects with Newbury Town Centre and West Berkshire Community Hospital, and then the Thatcham Connect service.
More flexible than a timetabled bus service you can choose where you'd like to go and when, and we'll plan a journey to suit you! Trips need to be pre-booked via the passenger App, by telephone, or by email.
The bus will collect you from bus stops or designated pick-up points in your village or connecting area. A door-to-door service may be available for less mobile passengers - get in touch with us to discuss this:
To compliment the on-demand services, we have made some timetabled journeys available, known as CCA, CCB and CCC.
Why not use Community Connect to get out and about across the district, visit family and friends, get to work, or perhaps catch onward connection by train or bus. You may find some Days Out inspiration by looking at our Bus Services for Days Out in West Berkshire pages.
West Berkshire Community Connect has been made possible by funding from HM Government, given to West Berkshire Council after submission of a Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) in October 2021.
As we move into Spring, Purley Sustainability Group (PSG) has some garden sustainability tips to consider:
Remember, gardening can be enjoyed regardless the size of your space. Also, you will receive the benefits of the sunshine and the exercise – and social interaction.
Have a plan: check out Library of Things or second-hand shops and local websites too. Try to find items that are sustainably made, easily recycled or biodegradable, and where possible avoid the plastic!
Be water wise: Rainwater is better for plants than the treated tap water. It's also cheaper and healthier for your plants too. Install a water butt!
Reduce waste: Your pile of fallen leaves can be used as mulch and also help add nutrients back to aid soil health. Remember grass clippings and plant waste can go on the compost heap or in your Green Bin (if you subscribe to the service). Keep garden green waste away from ponds, ditches, rivers and waterways.
But your lawn can help! A healthy lawn with some long grass and wildflowers benefits wildlife, tackles pollution and can even lock away carbon below ground. The nectar-rich flowers are loved by bees and butterflies and the seeds are eaten by small birds.
Mow lawns less often: Reducing your lawn cuts allows grass to grow a little longer which will protect the soil, and soil organisms from heat and also helps protect the grass roots, so may look greener all Summer!
Grow your own food and cut flowers: Some of the fruit, veg and flowers in the shops have an astonishing carbon footprint. You can reduce your impact by growing your own, even in small spaces.
Avoid chemicals & pesticides: Chemicals damage soil health, pollute water sources and harm a whole host of wildlife. Try to create a balanced ecosystem in your garden, offering food, shelter and plants that attract wildlife throughout the food chain.
Grow your knowledge: Talk to neighbours and friends, they may know the answers you are looking for, equally you may be able to help them.
For further information on garden sustainability, please visit Garden Sustainability — Purley Sustainability Group or for sustainability in the home visit: www.purleysustainability.co.uk/sustainhome.
The West Berkshire Countryside Society volunteer work parties operate on Tuesdays all year. Their tasks can include woodland and common management, coppicing, hedge-laying and hedge/tree planting - its a great opportunity to learn new skills, meet new people, enjoy the outdoors and keep our essential rural skills alive and thriving!
Do get in touch if you would like to join them. NO EXPERIENCE IS NECESSARY and they would love to hear from you: enquiries@westberkscountryside.org.uk.
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Essential Rural Skills - Coppicing
Next time you are in a bluebell wood, look out for coppiced trees! It is the coppice management that allows the bluebells to thrive in open areas and shade out competitive brambles as the tree canopy closes.
 Many plants and animals rely on the habitats that coppicing creates, through regularly allowing light to reach the woodland floor.
Coppicing involves cutting the stems of woody plants to ground level and allowing them to regrow. The resulting multi-stemmed plant (a stool) can be hundreds of years old and still be productive. If cut at regular intervals (between 8 to 15 years depending on species) and by cutting small areas (coupes) in turn, a mosaic of different stages of woodland develops.
This is essential for some species, like the heath fritillary butterfly and drab looper moth which ‘follow’ the coppice rotation to find the ideal conditions for their caterpillar food plants. Without a continuous supply of newly cleared areas to move to, species like these cannot survive.
The West Berkshire Countryside Society’s volunteers coppice single stools all the way up to small areas of woodland, and to regenerate lengths of hedgerow. Increasingly, we coppice to provide materials for another regenerative activity – hedge laying – which requires a lot of stakes and whippy ‘binders’.
The newly coppiced stools need to be protected from nibbling deer and so the left overs from the process are often used to form an enclosure around the stool to help protect it - nothing goes to waste!
Website: www.westberkscountryside.org.uk
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Planning a party?
 It was wonderful to see so many people passionate about the River Pang gathered in the Pangbourne Village Hall for Action River Kennet's evening of 'Progress on the Pang' event. ARK welcomed all the support in protecting our West Berkshire's chalk streams and rivers.
Guest speakers shared their findings and perspectives on the Pang:
- Professor Emeritus Michael Wilson: Testing the water – citizen science monitoring for action. See "Testing the Water" StoryMap for further methods, findings, and resources.
- Rupert Kelton (Project Manager ARK): Restoring rivers – habitat works on the Pang. Including ARK's restoration stories, including the Sulham wetland and a number of restoration projects to bring natural processes and wildlife back to our landscape.
- Professor Barry Murrer (Fly Fisherman and Chemist): Riverfly – the canary in the coalmine. Riverfly Monitoring - ARK have 7 riverfly monitoring locations along the River Pang. Riverfly monitoring assesses the water quality of rivers by identifying and counting eight key indicator invertebrate groups which live in our rivers. Trained ARK volunteers monitor 73 sites on the River Kennet and its tributaries and 7 sites on the Pang to check the health of the river and pick up otherwise undetected pollution incidents. The data is shared with the Environment Agency, The Riverfly Partnership, Thames Valley Environmental Records Centre and any other interested parties, as well as being analysed by ARK. They also work with researchers from Essex university to analyse our long term riverfly data alongside the Environment Agency's water quality, and hope to share our findings this Spring.
- Sarah Chant: Speaking up for the Pang: A family's perspective on the river over the years.
- Valentina Rohan (Ecologist Thames Water): Fish and invertebrate surveying on the Pang and Sulham Brook
To see slides from the event please follow this link ARK's Progress on the Pang Slides, and Pang Chalkstream Partnership StoryMap.
If you would like to get involved, volunteer or have any questions please email James, ARK's Project Officer: james@riverkennet.org or anna@riverkennet.org
Click to image to enlarge
 Bees’ Needs Week is an annual event coordinated by DEFRA, working alongside a host of organisations such as conservation groups, businesses, and charities. The aim of the week is to raise awareness of the importance of pollinators, and share ideas, actions and activities that highlight the ways in which everyone can help bees and other pollinators to thrive and runs 14 to 20 July in 2025.
5 easy actions that you can start in Spring to help our pollinators:
- Grow more nectar rich flowers, shrubs and trees. Using window or balcony boxes are good options if you do not have a garden.
- Let patches of your garden and land grow wild.
- Cut grass less often and on a higher setting.
- Do not disturb insect nests & hibernation spots.
- Think carefully about using pesticides.
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Can help with a 10 minute insect count? At anytime from April until September 2025?
A home Citizen Science opportunity - Flower-insect timed (FIT) counts - April to September.
All you need to do is simply spend 10 minutes watching flowers and insects in good weather. FIT counts can be done anywhere, including gardens and parks in warm, dry weather, any time from April to September 2025.
Every single count submitted to the UK Pollinator Monitoring Scheme (PoMS) helps the DEFRA data become more meaningful, to help them learn more about where pollinators live and how their numbers are changing.
Read the PoMS instructions for FIT counts and help our pollinators!
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Apply for a DEFRA Bees’ Needs champion award before 12 May 2025.
This awards recognises and celebrates examples of exceptional initiatives undertaken by community groups, farmers, businesses and individual people to support pollinators. Whether that’s creating a wildflower patch, educating the local community about pollinators, or taking special measures on your farm.
Applications are now open for DEFRA's 2025 Bees’ Needs champion awards.
Applications close 12 May 2025. Bees' Needs - GOV.UK
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The Community Grant Scheme is for projects that enhances natural habitats.
Funding is available, according to eligibility based on the projects postcode, and can be applied for by constituted not-for-profit organisations, Local Authorities and Environmental Bodies (EBs).
Grants are available of between £10,000 and £75,000 to create or improve publicly accessible spaces for the benefit of the community. The Veolia project grant criteria includes:
- Promotes community action and wellbeing
- Is inclusive and accessible to everyone and anyone to use
- Inspires the creation of a sustainable carbon neutral community space
- Protects and enhances biodiversity and natural habitats
More information can be found on the Funding and post code checker.
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 The Management Plan, produced by the North Wessex Downs National Landscape team on behalf of the Council of Partners, sets out the ambitions and approach for managing the North Wessex Downs National Landscape.
The existing Management Plan, which covers a six-year period to November 2025, has been reviewed and updated by the National Landscape Team and others. They are now inviting the public to participate in a consultation process.
Input from stakeholders, including residents and visitors is vital and they encourage everyone to share their views.
You can download the draft documents and provide your feedback through an online survey. The link to the consultation documents and to the survey is here. Please do take part.
The consultation period will close at midnight on Wednesday, 30 April 2025.
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