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The Halloween Pumpkin Hunt at Dinton Pastures is on until the end of this half term! Get your child a map and activity sheet for £2.50 to find all the hidden pumpkins together. Buy a ticket online before you go.
 Meet the Snow Queen at Glow Walk
A special guest is going to join the First Days' Children Charity Glow Walk at Dinton Pastures this year!
Snow Queen, performed by Boogie Magic Parties, will be enchanting visitors from 6pm to 7pm on Saturday 16 November, doing meet-and-greet, taking photos and singing live at the fundraising event.
This year's Glow Walk is more than just an illuminated journey around the country park. You can enjoy live music along the walk and a variety of food and drinks available for purchase. For those seeking extra adventure, sign up for a special glowing stand-up paddleboarding session.
First Days is offering tiered pricing to make the event accessible to as many people as possible, so you may contribute based on your circumstances.
Book your tickets online, and pre-pay for parking at £3 per car for the duration of your stay, if you need.
 Prioritising green spaces with access for everyone
We’re preparing to publish a new Local Plan, which is a strategy document covering all aspects of how Wokingham Borough should grow and develop in the long term.
The new plan will designate more than 100 treasured sites as new Local Green Spaces, while 13 more areas will be designated as valued landscapes of borough-wide significance. This means their important role in the area’s identity can be further recognised when we decide planning applications.
The new Local Plan also proposes a large new country park to the south of the M4, on the banks of the River Loddon and Barkham Brook, most of which is not currently accessible to the public.
This would serve local people’s needs and attract residents of other parts of the borough, like our flagship country park at Dinton Pastures or California Country Park. It would also be a haven for wildlife and would provide high-quality walking and cycling connections to the surrounding areas.
It would be funded by developers building new homes in this area to meet our future needs.
More information online
The new country park is shown in green stripes in the image above, which is on page 85 of our pre-submission plan (PDF download). You can view a list and maps of the proposed Local Green Spaces (PDF download, page 1) and valued landscapes (PDF download, page 96).
We’re consulting on the soundness and legal compliance of the new Local Plan until Wednesday 13 November – find out more on our Engage Wokingham Borough platform.
Our Countryside Service team looks after 29 nature parks across the borough, all of which are beautiful green spaces for you to get fresh air and do exercise. These parks are not just recreational areas. Many are designated as Local Wildlife Sites by Thames Valley Environmental Records Centre (TVERC) for their high wildlife value with rare or threatened habitats and species, as well as great countywide importance.
 A Date with Nature this weekend
Autumn is a good time for birdwatching. If you've never done this before, why not give it a try with the Wokingham and Bracknell Local Group of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds?
The group hosts a monthly birdwatching walk, A Date with Nature, at Dinton Pastures, and the next one will be this Saturday 2 November. It will start at 9am in the main car park off Davis Street and finish by 12.30pm.
People of all ages are welcome. Advice is always offered to help new birdwatchers identify the different species.
A donation of £2 per adult to the charity is requested, and children are free to join. For enquiries or more information, email the group at RSPBwandb@gmail.com.
 Dinton foothpath improvement updates
We've completed the first two phases of the footpath upgrade project at Dinton Pastures.
The footpaths from the overflow car park to the River Loddon bridge and from the overflow car park to Herons Water Lake have been levelled and tarmacked.
Our contractors will carry out the final phase of tarring and pea shingling the routes when the weather improves. After completing the work, the upgraded path will be as good as the Black Swan route we did two years ago.
The project is fully funded through revenues raised by our country parks, ensuring that we continue reinvesting in what matters to you.
Thank you again for your patience and understanding while the work was carried out.
 Dinton cafes winter opening times
From Monday 4 November, The Coffee Deck at Dinton Activity Centre will be open every Friday to Sunday, as well as on bank holidays and school holidays only. The operating hours are from 10am to 4pm on Fridays, and from 9am to 4pm on all other opening days.
During this time, The Coffee House located next to the main car park of Dinton Pastures Country Park will remain open every day from 8.30am to 4pm.
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