 Car parking charge increases amended after feedback
As we face unprecedented financial pressure our decision-making executive has agreed to increase charges at the borough’s car parks for the first time in four years.
Following feedback from residents and businesses some changes have been made from the proposed increases. These changes lessen the impact on season ticket prices and evening charges as well as establish a two-tier system with lower increases for car parks outside of Wokingham town centre. The approved charges are published in the Supplementary Paper published on our website.
We know this won’t be a popular decision but we must make sure we can keep up the same level of highway maintenance as in recent years without impacting on the other services we provide.
The rise will offset an expected shortfall of up to £800,000 in parking revenue for this financial year, which has been caused in part by changing travel habits due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Many other local authorities have increased off-street parking charges in recent years while ours have remained among the lowest locally and regionally – and unlike fees for other council services, they haven’t kept pace with inflation.
 Reduction of blue rubbish bags agreed
In the Executive meeting yesterday evening (29 September), the council’s decision-makers approved the proposal to reduce the number of blue rubbish bags supplied to households from 80 to 54 per year. We will review the provision for larger families.
This will take effect starting with the next annual delivery in spring 2023. The decision will avoid an increase of £149,000 in our waste budget.
The Executive has also agreed to stop supplying single-use plastic food caddy liners to residents, as it was announced in July. This will again avoid adding around £120,000 to our next year’s budget.
We are facing unprecedented financial pressure, due to rampant inflation and the rising cost of providing basic services, particularly for the elderly and children.
We are striving to cut down our day-to-day running costs to protect the most vulnerable in our community.
We encourage you to continue recycling as much as possible, as we all know this is the right thing to do for us and the environment.
 How is cost of living crisis impacting you?
We’re working alongside Age UK Berkshire, Citizens Advice Wokingham, First Days Children's Charity, Wokingham Foodbank and Wokingham United Charities to respond to the cost of living crisis locally.
We need to know how it's impacting you and your families. This will shape the support we provide alongside our partners in the months ahead.
Spread the word
We need as many people to take the survey as possible to understand how the whole area is being impacted. Share these links with your communities, groups and friends using your preferred channel:
 Wokingham Covid-19 vaccine centre to relocate
The borough’s dedicated Covid-19 vaccine clinic will be moving to our Shute End offices in Wokingham from next Thursday (6 October).
It will offer the adult autumn booster vaccine on Thursdays and Fridays, and the children’s vaccine to people aged 5 to 11 on Sundays. Timings can be found on our Covid-19 vaccine pages.
Residents who are eligible for the vaccines offered at the clinic are advised to book ahead on the NHS National Booking Website or by calling 119.
On Thursdays and Fridays from 4pm to 5pm, the clinic will provide the autumn booster vaccine exclusively to frontline health and social care staff on a walk-in basis.
Those attending the clinic are reminded to bring their NHS number and a face covering with them.
Health and social care staff should also bring proof of status, such as workplace photo ID, a letter from your employer from the past three months, or a payslip from the past three months which shows your employer.
Our consultation on future walking and cycling infrastructure closes on Sunday (2 October). Respond now on Engage Wokingham Borough.
What you might have missed
Here's all our updates from the last week:
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