 Gorse Ride roads lead to bloom
Our Gorse Ride affordable housing regeneration is underway in Finchampstead, and attention has started to turn to naming the four new roads and five apartment blocks which will be built as part of the scheme.
Local schools were challenged to submit ideas for themes in a road naming competition. A community panel shortlisted the ideas down to three and residents of Gorse Ride were invited to vote for their favourite.
The theme ‘Flowers’ proved the most popular choice, receiving 57 per cent of the vote. Proposed by Class 6CB at Gorse Ride Junior School, this included ideas such as buttercup, sunflower, iris and foxglove.
The class received a surprise visit from Wokingham Borough Mayor Cllr Caroline Smith and representatives from Wates Residential, appointed contractor for the regeneration, who announced they had won the competition.
 Difficult decisions on financial future
We’re planning our budget for next year – working out how much money we have and what it will be spent on in the next financial year (from March 2023 to March 2024).
The challenge of setting the budget for next year will be one of the toughest we have ever faced because the cost of everything we do is increasing rapidly.
The inflation rate is above 10 per cent (almost double what it was this time last year) and the money we receive as income is generally fixed, and in some cases falling.
This means we won't have enough money to carry on just as we are doing now and will have to make difficult decisions about what can continue and what can be changed to compensate.
We’ve worked hard to identify efficiencies, but even with these there is a shortfall of about £4million in balancing the books for next financial year. Now we’re looking at a wide range of ideas for further savings or revenue increases.
 Register as a priority user with energy suppliers
We’re encouraging people to register with power and gas suppliers if they are potentially vulnerable this winter.
These are known as priority services, which mean you get help faster if you are cut off or additional warnings if there are outages like blackouts or power cuts. You may want to register if you:
- Have reached state pension age (66 or older)
- Use medical equipment which relies on electricity
- Have a disability
- Have a chronic illness
- Have children aged five or under
- Are pregnant
- Are blind or partially sighted
- Are deaf or hard of hearing
- Have long-term physical or mental health conditions
These are provided by the company which owns the electricity or gas network. It will not always be the company you pay your gas or electricity bills to. Register through:
Similar services are available with water providers, find out more on our priority services webpages.
 Decision on food caddy liners confirmed
The decision to stop issuing households with non-biodegradable single-use plastic caddy liners has been upheld.
Our executive agreed this last month, but it was then “called in” to go before our overview and scrutiny management committee for closer scrutiny. The committee confirmed the executive decision at a meeting this Monday (24 October).
Stopping the supply of caddy liners, as we first announced this summer, will avoid adding about £120,000 to our budget next year.
As outlined above, we're currently facing unprecedented financial pressures, so we need to reduce our day-to-day running costs and protect the services that our most vulnerable residents depend on.
Once you run out of any liners we’ve provided, you can line your caddy with soft plastic bags like carrier bags, bread bags, cereal bags or fruit and vegetable bags. Alternatively, you can leave it unlined.
There’s a pop up shop running at the Bracknell Recycling Centre at Longshot Lane (RG12 1RL) from 8am to 1pm tomorrow (Saturday 29 October) with our partners re3recycling.
You’ll be able to pick up good quality, pre-loved bargains, with profits from the event going to the Sue Ryder charity. Items will include toys, games, books, sporting goods, gardening items, furniture and more.
What you might have missed
If you’d like to sign up for more updates listed above, then use the registration form on our website.
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