 Your views on changes to polling places
We would like to hear your views on proposed changes to polling places under new ward boundary arrangements.
Earlier this year, an electoral boundary review was carried out, which resulted in new ward arrangements of 18 three-member wards.
A new parliamentary constituency for Wokingham Borough, called Earley and Woodley, has also been created, alongside the existing constituency of Wokingham.
As a result, we must now carefully consider where new polling districts are needed, where polling places are situated and that locations meet the needs of all residents.
We are conducting a public consultation via our Engage Wokingham Borough platform, which runs until Sunday 19 November.
Most electors will be unaffected as their polling place is intended to stay the same. By taking the short survey, you can help us to be sure that the locations we have suggested are suitable and accessible for all electors ahead of the local elections in May 2024.
 Litter bin closure plans put on hold
Plans to remove 150 public litter bins have been put on hold while we look for other ways to make much-needed savings.
Our executive agreed last week not to go ahead with the proposed reductions following feedback from a recent public consultation. We'll now look at other ways of saving money within the litter bin service
Other cost-saving measures will be going ahead. This includes changes in the frequency of street sweeping, cleaning of areas around bottle banks and weed spraying which, along with savings yet to be identified in litter bins, should save taxpayers about £600,000 over three years.
The executive also agreed to save £100,000 a year by reducing grass cutting in public areas from six annual cuts to four, except for play parks and other amenity areas.
We're facing unprecedented financial pressures from a “triple threat” of high inflation, which is driving all our costs up, combined with a long track record of underfunding from the Government and rising demand for our services.
 Strategy to improve your customer experience
We’ve adopted our first ever customer experience strategy, setting out our commitment to improve and enhance residents' experiences when accessing our services.
The strategy was created following 12 months of resident, community and group engagement with a wide section of the Wokingham Borough community including businesses, statutory partners, the youth council, CLASP and the Equality Forum.
Customers told us they felt it was important they were listened to, able to get what they needed and felt valued as a customer. They also wanted to trust the council to spend money wisely.
 Make your home more energy efficient for winter
As we head into winter our recently launched Home Decarbonisation Advice service can help you reduce emissions and save money on your bills.
The free service will allow you to contact us to get practical, impartial advice on the changes you might make to your property.
It is aimed to give you a better understanding on how you might improve the energy efficiency of your home and the potential benefits these could give from carbon emissions to financial savings.
In addition to the Home Decarbonisation service, we're also offering you free access to the Parity Projects Plan Builder App.
By inputting some basic information into the app, such as your address and potential budget available, you will receive a range of options to consider.
This includes estimated costs for making the changes and an estimate of annual savings you could make on your fuel bill and carbon dioxide emissions.
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