 Changes to rubbish and recycling to help cut costs and plastic consumption
Take part in the waste consultation
We have launched a consultation to seek your views on potential changes to our rubbish and recycling collections that could see the borough’s weekly general rubbish and recycling collections change to be more in line with the majority of local authorities in the country.
Due to unprecedented financial pressures, new government legislation and our climate emergency goals, we have to change how we collect your rubbish and recycling, and we want to know how the potential changes would affect you.
The consultation outlines two options on how often your rubbish and recycling are collected. Both options would require the introduction of wheeled bins for general rubbish. The consultation is open until 5 December 2022.
Take part in the consultation by visiting our Engage Wokingham Borough website.
For help completing the survey online, call our customer services team on (0118) 974 6000 or visit one of the borough’s libraries. Help taking the online survey is available over the phone or in person, and paper and electronic copies (PDF format) are also available on request.
Rubbish bag reductions to help cut costs and plastic consumption
Our decision-making Executive has agreed to reduce the number of blue rubbish bags supplied to households in Wokingham Borough from 80 to 54 per year. This move will help to cut down costs whilst reducing the amount of single-use plastic bags being used in the borough.
The proposed reduction to 54 blue bags per household per year is in line with our ‘One Blue Bag’ campaign, where we ask residents to try to reduce the amount of rubbish they put out by only using one bag per week.
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.
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.
Plastic caddy liners to be discontinued
The Executive also agreed to stop supplying single-use plastic food caddy liners to residents, which will avoid adding around £120,000 to our waste budget.
In our drive to reduce the use of non-recyclable single-use plastics, we are urging residents to line their food caddies with environmentally friendly alternatives such as a compostable liner or newspaper.
You can also use any soft plastic bag that you were going to throw away, such as carrier bags, bread bags, cereal bags or fruit and vegetable bags. Alternatively, you can put food waste into the caddy without lining it.
Recycling saves money, as it costs much less to recycle waste than it does to dispose of it. It also conserves precious resources by turning them into products and saves energy by making products out of recycled, rather than raw materials. It also reduces landfill. The food waste placed in food caddies can be processed and turned into fertiliser as well as capturing methane to turn into electricity.
We encourage you to continue recycling as much as possible by continuing to use your food caddy and green recycling bags. For more information on waste collection services, visit our website.
 New traffic-free path proving popular with residents
Have you cycled or walked our newly opened traffic-free path in Wokingham?
The latest of our greenways, a network of mostly traffic-free routes linking major destinations in the borough, is officially open to the public. The greenway crosses Woosehill Meadows, between Reading Road and Heron Road in Wokingham town, as part of a new link between Cantley Park and Arborfield Cross.
This will help to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by allowing residents to walk or cycle instead of commuting via car. The new greenway has a hard, permeable surface, making it accessible in all weathers, particularly for users of wheelchairs, buggies and more, and will blend in with its surroundings as the grass on either side grows back.
It is already proving popular with residents, including pupils of the nearby Windmill, Hawthorns and St Paul’s primary schools, who use it to get to school. Both are designated 'air quality schools' which work with our My Journey Wokingham team to monitor air pollution and reduce it by changing how they travel.
The next stage will be a section along Coombes Lane and Coles Lane near Barkham, with work set to start this month.
 Home for new library at energy-efficient leisure centre
Wokingham Library opened its doors last month at the Carnival Hub, our new flagship community building.
Previously located in Denmark Street, the new library is now situated inside the building, which is one of the most energy-efficient leisure centres in the country. The Hub officially opened this summer and includes the installation of solar panels and air source heat pumps on the roof.
The new library is a focal point for the local community and features spaces for browsing books and resources, access to computers and a children's area with lots of fun seating and space to relax.
There is also space for exhibitions, displays and larger meeting rooms which can be combined into one big space for events. There are also areas for those wishing to study or carry out research in the library, including group study spaces and a bank of individual study booths to give people more privacy if desired.
The library is open six days week and the opening hours are:
- Monday and Tuesday - 9.30am to 5pm
- Wednesday - 9.30am to 4pm
- Thursday - 9.30am to 7pm
- Friday - 9.30am to 5pm
- Saturday - 9.30am to 4pm
 Take the bus to school to save money and the planet
Reading Buses and its sister company Thames Valley Buses, whose routes serve local schools in the borough, are offering reduced Boost fares for young people aged 18 and under, and to students aged 19 and over studying full-time at certain colleges and universities.
This is great news for children and young people who can take advantage of discounted fares to get to school, visit the town centre after school hours or see friends during the evenings and weekends. The discounted fares will also help to reduce carbon emissions by enabling many children to take the bus instead of travelling around the borough in separate cars.
Boost fares are available for all services including the lion 4/X4, leopard 3, claret 21, little oranges 19b and the recently extended Mereoak park and ride 600. Between them these routes serve Emmbrook, St Crispin's and The Holt secondary schools in Wokingham town, The Forest School in Winnersh, Bulmershe School in Woodley, Maiden Erlegh School in Earley and many neighbouring primaries.
A termly pass costs £205 and can be used on all journeys and routes within the zone. To find out more, visit the Reading Buses site or download the app from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.
 New stackable housing set to welcome families soon
A state-of-the-art temporary housing site to help homeless families remain in Wokingham Borough has been shortlisted for an industry award as it nears completion.
The 23 modular timber-clad units at Grovelands Park in Winnersh, which replace outdated mobile homes that weren’t economical to maintain, will provide comfortable surroundings as their occupants await more permanent accommodation. They will offer high energy efficiency, helping us honour our climate emergency commitments.
Funding comes from money already earmarked for improving housing stock and, as we grapple with spiralling costs like inflation and energy bills, should save hundreds of thousands of pounds a year on more expensive bed and breakfast places. Despite our financial challenges, we’ve affirmed our commitment to protecting essential services.
Installation at Grovelands Park started this spring and now 20 of the 50 sq m, double-stacked units are in place, and are being furnished ready for occupation next year, when construction finishes.
They are modular, meaning they’re built offsite and craned into place which saves time, reduces disruption and is better for the environment. They have high levels of insulation and they’ve also got solar panels on the roof while the site will be equipped with electric car chargers as part of our drive to expand provision of both across the borough.
The site was also recently visited by the members of our Tenant and Landlord Improvement Panel. We’re proud that modular construction specialist Rollalong, one of three partners in this project alongside Edgington Spink + Hyne and LHC, has just been named a finalist in the Off-Site Innovation of the Year category of this year’s London Construction Awards.
 Green travel on the horizon
Dozens of electric vehicle charging points are a step closer to being installed across Wokingham Borough now that funding is available. We are about to receive a Government grant towards 38 chargers in 19 locations across the borough, which will cover 60 per cent of the cost.
This comes from the On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme, run by the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) with support from the Energy Saving Trust. The remaining money will follow from the supplier once a contract is agreed, with no net cost to taxpayers.
Following consultation with residents, twelve sites have been identified including residential streets in Wokingham town, Twyford, Winnersh, Earley, Woodley, Arborfield, Finchampstead and Wargrave. Exact locations will be confirmed once we have drawn up traffic orders for the work.
The others will go in the council's car parks at Denmark Street, Rose Street and Cockpit Path, all in Wokingham town, Polehampton Close (West) in Twyford, Station Road in Earley and Crockhamwell Road and Headley Road in Woodley.
The charge points will all be usable on a 'pay as you go' basis and will be owned by us but maintained by the supplier, who would cover any costs to ensure no net expense to the taxpayer.
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