 £27million secondary school expansion proposals
We’ve published proposals for expansions to three secondary schools in the borough.
This is part of our £27million programme for the next five years to increase the number of places available at the borough’s secondary schools.
The funding will come from a grant from the Department of Education, as well as developers’ contributions from new housing in the borough.
We’ve agreed with The Emmbrook, The Piggott and St Crispin’s schools to use high quality modular buildings, to allow for installation later this year. We’ll then allow the schools to return to their previous size once the ‘bulge’ in pupil numbers has passed through the schools, if the need for places goes back down.
You can view and comment on the plans on our Engage Wokingham Borough platform:
 Rare bitterns come to Dinton Pastures
Our teams have recently spotted three bitterns at Dinton Pastures Country Park, regularly being seen in our White Swan Lake reed bed.
Bitterns are brown herons but are extremely rare and difficult to see so the thought of us having at least three is very exciting and a great indication our habitats (especially reedbeds) offer huge opportunities for these elusive birds.
Their main diet will be fish and amphibians which they hunt while in the reedbeds.
The reedbeds at Dinton have been created by the Countryside Service and volunteers over the last 20 years and are now providing fantastic habitats for rarer birds such as the bitterns and numerous warbler species.
 New Leopard Bus 3 route
A new year brings a new route through Finchampstead and Arborfield for the Leopard Bus 3, which will be taking advantage of the new section of the Nine Mile Ride Extension which opened last month.
Since last week the route, which previously went along Biggs Lane and Park Lane, will now use the Nine Mile Ride Extension, Sheerlands Avenue and Princess Marina Drive.
Two new bus stops will be added at Harvest Path, just south of Bohunt School and Hogwood Lane and Marino Way, south of Hogwood industrial estate. The new route will provide a better route for pupils travelling to and from Bohunt School.
You can see a map of the revised route and new timetable at My Journey Wokingham.
£2 cap on Reading Buses journeys until end of March
Meanwhile, more people can make the most of bus travel locally after Reading Buses, which runs many services through Wokingham Borough, announced single bus fares are being capped at a maximum of £2 from January to 31 March.
For more information, including how to pay, route planners, live updates and even how to become a bus driver, visit Reading Buses website.
 Free trees for your garden or land
We’re offering free hazel, crab apple, rowan, silver birch and field maple trees if you have a Wokignham Borough postcode.
There’s still time to join more than 800 people who planted saplings in the first phase of our Garden Forest Scheme, in partnership with the Woodland Trust.
What you might have missed
- The Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner, which you pay towards as part of your Council Tax payments, is consulting on what police budgets should focus on in 2023/24. Take the survey, which closes on 13 January, on the police and crime commissioner website
- We're running a survey for our social and affordable housing tenants, if that's you remember to respond and shape future housing policies
- As part of our duty to identify enough housing land for everyone in the borough, we want to hear from anybody who would like to suggest sites for Gypsy and Traveller use
- Fancy a new direction for your career in 2023? We’ve got a host of roles available including internships, transport planners, business analysts, social care and much more. Check our jobs board for more information
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