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Our email newsletter schedule was changed while we focused on keeping the community updated following the death of Her Majesty The Queen.
This newsletter will now return to its normal Tuesday morning and Friday morning schedule.
 Cost savings and financial pressures
We are facing our worst financial pressure for generations with rampant inflation, reducing income and the increasing need to help residents. This is the same for councils across the country.
The cost of providing basic services, such as social care for the most vulnerable, is increasing dramatically. Inflation is running at about a 40 year high and energy bills (which are uncapped for us) spiralling out of control.
These huge increases in cost cannot be covered by increased income because Council Tax is capped at 1.99 per cent and we would not want to increase the burden on people at this time. Other revenue generation is reducing because of lifestyle changes caused by Covid-19.
We are appealing to Government to recognise the urgent situation local councils are facing and provide realistic support.
 Potential changes to weekly waste collections
Proposals to reduce the number of blue rubbish bags supplied to households, or stop supplying them entirely, will be consider by our decision-making executive next week.
This is to help us look at options to make savings and deal with the issues outlined in the article above.
The proposed reduction of blue bags from 80 to 54 per year would avoid an increase of £149,000 in our budget, while stopping them would save £463,000.
In the longer term, we are considering further changes to the waste and recycling service and will soon be launching a consultation on the issue.
We want to hear your views on proposals like having food waste collected weekly, but with rubbish and recycling collected on alternate weeks. A change like this could save about £1 million per year and increase the recycling rate.
You will receive a postcard with more information. You are urged to take part in the consultation from 10 October to 5 December on our Engage platform and let us know how potential future changes would impact you.
 New parking charges
Our decision-making executive will be discussing a proposed increase in car park charges to ensure we can sustain highway services. This is to offset an expected shortfall of up to £800,000 in parking revenue for this financial year.
With inflation at its highest in about 40 years and energy costs continuing to spiral upwards, we are facing unprecedented financial pressure. We need to look at where we can save money, and where we can raise money, to make sure we have enough to support those in need in our communities.
Unlike many other local authorities, we haven’t increased off-street parking charges since 2018 and they have remained among the lowest both in the local area and regionally, meaning fees haven't kept pace with inflation.
The proposed changes would bring our charges in line with similar authorities across the South-East and would remain cheaper than some car parks in neighbouring areas including Bracknell Forest, Windsor & Maidenhead, Reading and Basingstoke.
Proposed changes
- Extend the car park charge times to between 6am and 10pm from Monday to Sunday
- Parking to remain free overnight, but motorists would need to collect a free vend ticket to register their vehicle
- Charges would then increase as follows - up to one hour, from 80p to £1.30; up to two hours, from £1.20 to £2.50; up to four hours, from £2 to £4.50; up to six hours, from £3 to £6.50; over six hours, from £4 to £9
- Market traders would pay £6.50 for an extended day at Cockpit Path car park instead of £4
- Season tickets would be charged as follows - one month, from £82.23 to £168.50; three months, from £240.35 to £506.50; six months, from £450.34 to £1,013; 12 months, from £900.68 to £2,026
- An overnight 12 month season ticket, previously £292, would be free of charge
 Extended – a voice on cycling and walking
A consultation on ideas to improve Wokingham borough's walking and cycling links is being relaunched to ensure everybody can have their say.
Since 11 July, we’ve been seeking your views on our draft Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) - a strategic document that outlines where routes could be made easier and safer for users, including those who wheel, scoot or skate.
We’ve already had more comments than we expected and we’re pleased to see so many people taking an interest. However, we also know that others had problems using the original consultation site, which was created by an outside organisation, due partly to technical problems.
To ensure nobody’s been excluded, we’ve moved the affected sections to our own Engage Wokingham Borough platform and are taking feedback until Sunday, October 2. We’ll ask to you to register to ensure all responses are genuine, but this is free of charge and takes only a moment.
 Mayor volunteers at foodbank
Councillor Caroline Smith, the Mayor of Wokingham Borough, has been busy supporting her chosen charity by volunteering at the Wokingham Foodbank.
During a recent visit, she spoke with volunteers and helped to sort through donations. Demand for various aspect of the foodbank have been increasing in recent months, including the ‘fuelbank’ offer, which provides gas and electricity top-up vouchers to people experiencing fuel poverty.
Wokingham Foodbank is a project founded by local churches and community groups, which work together to stop hunger in the borough. It is staffed mainly by volunteers and relied on donations of food, supplies and money to help those in need.
The Mayor traditionally chooses a local charity to benefit from fundraising during their year in office. Last year, the foodbank provided assistance to 4,759 people.
What you might have missed
We’re back to sending regular newsletters on all the usual topics. You can sign up for email newsletters on our website. Here’s everything from the last week:
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