 Millions spent on improving your communities
We secured a significant increase in developers' contributions towards amenities like schools, highways and public green spaces in the 2021/22 financial year. We received £92.3million, almost three times the £32.6million total from the year before.
The money was secured through agreements made when giving planning permission for new homes and other developments, ensuring you benefit while reducing pressure on our finances.
This is a priority as we face unprecedented pressures and must balance making savings with building strong communities and protecting essential services like social care.
In 2021/22, more than £27million was spent on transport and highways including active travel schemes, with projects including Nine Mile Ride Extension, the North Wokingham Distributor Road and Winnersh Relief Road.
Other beneficiaries were the Gorse Ride housing regeneration (£14.5million) as well as our Carnival Hub project (about £2.4million) and an interactive play park at Cantley Park (almost £1million), both in Wokingham.
Support calls for sensible housing growth
We also continue to lobby for the borough to take a fairer share of new houses in future – and now we’d like you to add your voice to our campaign.
The Government is consulting on proposals that could let us plan for fewer homes per year than we’ve been required to do in the past. Respond to this before it closes on March 2.
 New school opens to meet local demand
A new primary school in North Wokingham has taken on its first pupils from Key Stage 2 (Years 3, 4, 5 and 6).
We opened St Cecilia’s Church of England Primary off Queen’s Road, in the Matthewsgreen area, for the beginning of the spring term on 9 January. This will meet growing demand in that age group, due largely to the numbers of families moving to the area, and relieve pressure on other schools.
St Cecilia’s has capacity for 90 juniors and is run by the Keys Academy Trust, which has a proven track record of successfully running primary schools in Wokingham Borough. No date is set for a full opening, which would see capacity increase to 210, as demand remains lower than expected in younger years.
The school was built to serve new homes being built in North Wokingham to meet Government requirements and was funded by developers. We're monitoring demand closely and will announce more when this increases.
The complex also includes a community space and we’re hoping to share more news about this with you very soon.
 Rethink in pipeline for new 3G pitch plans
Our executive will consider plans to stop further work on a proposed 3G sports pitch at Maiden Erlegh School in Earley at a meeting tomorrow (Thursday, 26 January).
Our financial position has worsened and costs for this project have risen since last summer, when we first agreed to consult on it. If agreed, work will stop while we develop a Playing Pitch Strategy.
Part of this strategy will reassess the needs of Earley and Lower Earley and identify sites for 3G sports pitches across the borough. It should be completed this summer to replace the previous strategy agreed in 2019.
Once it's finished, there'll be a full evaluation of 3G pitch provision looking at demand and costs associated with each proposal. The strategy will create an overall vision for the future and provide evidence of where demand is greatest.
Don't miss out on the latest news from across the borough. Our Wokingham Borough Connect newsletters cover a wide range of topics including Traffic and Travel, Rubbish and Recycling, Countryside, Sport, Leisure and Health and much more. Visit our website to see what's on offer and sign up.
|
