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Just a reminder your rubbish and recycling collections will continue on the coming bank holiday Monday (27 May).
Our crews will start earlier than usual at 5.30am on Monday.
Put out your waste the night before if you are due a collection. You can check your waste collection day on our website.
 4 July General Election - what you need to know
The General Election will take place on Thursday 4 July.
Following changes to Parliament constituency boundaries, all residents in the borough now fall into one of two areas for electing local Members of Parliament:
- Wokingham
- Woodley and Earley
You can view a map of current and new boundaries on the House of Commons library.
Or you can check your Parliamentary constituency by putting your postcode into the Electoral Commission upcoming elections checker.
Candidates for each area will be published in June. You'll get a poll card in the post before the election. This will tell you where to vote on Thursday 4 July.
Important links
 First bins hit doorsteps as changes approach
We’ve started delivering more than 60,000 black wheeled rubbish bins to households as part of the upcoming changes to our waste collections.
You shouldn’t use your new bin straight away when you get it, as we won’t empty it until collections change on Monday, 12 August. Please keep putting out your rubbish in the blue bags for now.
We won’t reach every household until the end of July, so please bear with us – and remember to mark your bin with your house number when it arrives.
From mid-August, we’ll empty your new rubbish bin every two weeks. We’ll also collect recycling every two weeks from the usual green bags, on weeks when rubbish isn’t collected.
Food waste collections are staying weekly. You can get an outdoor food bin and indoor caddy free of charge.
Wait for your bin to be delivered
Crews from our distributor Jett will be assembling the bins in your street in batches of about 15, by attaching the wheels and then leaving them outside your property.
If you see a stack of unassembled bins in your street, don’t help yourself. Crews will be back within minutes to bring a bin straight to you.
 Photo courtesy of Peter Novell at Get Media 101
Phase one of crossroads project completed
Phase one of the California Cross project is complete and from yesterday we’ve moved into phase two.
The sections of Nine Mile Ride and Finchampstead Road which were previously closed have reopened.
We’ve now closed Finchampstead Road from Wild Acres Rest Home to the crossroads and Nine Mile Ride will be closed from the junction of Wick Hill Lane to the crossroads.
Access will be maintained to residential properties within the closure. Further details on the road closure and diversion routes can be found on our website and signs will be in place along the diversion routes. During phase one:
- A new drainage system has been installed,
- New kerb lines are in place and
- Block paving has been laid
- Most work done underground to reduce issues caused by leaking pipes in the future
To keep up to date with the project, you can sign up for our regular California Cross newsletter – next edition will be later today.
 Your chance to change a child's life
Kim and Stuart have been fostering with us for a year and are sharing their story as part of Foster Care Fortnight.
They said: “The best thing about fostering is witnessing the growth and resilience of the children. It can be incredibly rewarding to see them flourish.
“However, fostering also comes with its challenges, like navigating complex emotions and supporting children through trauma. Despite these challenges, the opportunity to positively influence a child's life has made it all worthwhile.
“Being part of the council’s fostering family has been great. The support groups, training and events are a good way to meet people and learn. We would recommend fostering with the council to others because of the support and resources they provide to both foster carers and children.”
The biggest event in our annual fostering events calendar took place last Friday (17 May) with foster carers attending a celebration and thank you lunch, during which they were presented with flowers and were thanked by Wokingham Borough Mayor Cllr Beth Rowland.
Could you foster a child? Our fostering website has lots of information, including support, benefits and next steps.
 Plan for quieter streets and safer school runs
We’re planning to help a school improve safety at drop-off and pick-up times by trialling a proven scheme in Wokingham Borough.
We’ll be seeking residents’ views on proposals for a "school street" at Radstock Primary School in Earley, which will encourage more pupils to walk or cycle in regularly.
This involves restricting motor traffic on streets around the school during the morning and afternoon rush hours only.
Restrictions would be enforced by number plate recognition cameras and clearly marked with signs. Some vehicles, like emergency services or residents needing access, would be exempt.
This has been successful in other places around the country and the school supports the idea, so we’re working together to see if it’s feasible. As well as improving safety, it would reduce vehicle emissions in line with our climate goals and improve children’s health.
We’ve drawn up some initial ideas but haven’t made a final decision as this would be subject to consultation, which we’ll announce later in the summer.
What you might have missed
Here’s all our updates from the last week:
You can sign up for any of these email updates on our website.
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