Newsletter

Affordable Housing – Community Consultation

The Open Day consultation event held at the beginning of November was well attended by the community. Residents were given the opportunity of speaking to the Rural Housing Enabler and representatives from associated housing providers on the initiative undertaken by the Rural Housing Trust.

Those who attended were asked to complete a feedback form, and the results have now been collated and are summarised below.

Q1	Did you respond to the Housing Needs Survey ?
	Yes – 44	52.3%
	No – 38	45.2%
	Blank – 2	2.4%

Q2	Has the event been informative and met your expectations ?
	Yes – 77	91.6%
	No – 5	5.9%
	Blank – 2	2.4%

Q3	Do you think the design of the scheme is in keeping with the village ?
	Yes – 58	69.0%
	No – 11	13.1%
	Blank – 15	17.9%

Q4	Which site do you think is best for such a scheme ?
	Hanover Gardens	1
	Railway Station	2
	Other Unspecified	2
	None	7
	Blank	8
	Either Option	13
	Field Opposite Kings Field	13
	Kings Field	14
	Field End	24

Q5	Do you think this should go ahead ?
	Blank – 6	7.1%
	Yes – 61	72.6%
	No – 17	20.2%

Since the consultation event we have been informed that due to technical issues including highways requirements, three of the identified sites have been withdrawn from this stage of the initiative. These are the sites near Hanover Gardens, the field opposite Kings Field and Field End.

The process continues, and the next stage is for a tasking group to be set up to review all sites. This will include sites previously identified as well as possible new ones. Once the findings of the group are collated, the consultation exercise will continue.

Village Christmas Tree

The Parish Council has once again supported the provision of the Christmas Tree in the village. The generosity of the Greyhound Public House is also recognised for housing the tree in their car park. It’s hoped that their Christmas evening event will be another success.

A4 ‘Wyevale’ Junction - Update

Improvements to this junction are still being sought by the Parish Council both in terms of traffic management and overall safety. Schemes that have been put forward to date have not been considered adequate to address the issues.

To enable this to be progressed, we are arranging to meet with neighbouring parish councils to see if a consensus can be reached as to the way forward. A further meeting will then be arranged with the Highways Department of the Borough Council to press for a feasibility study.

Christmas Tree Recycling

We have again this year made arrangements to provide a recycling service for your Christmas Trees following the festivities. An area within the Recreation Ground Car Park is being set aside for your trees which must be delivered before 10.30 a.m. on Saturday 19th January 2008.

We would like to take this opportunity to remind users of the Kings Field Dog Walking Area to clear up after their dogs. There are bins provided which are regularly emptied and we would encourage their use, this ensures that the facility is continued to be available for all.

There are also dog bins located near to popular walks, therefore to keep the area clean please use the bins provided.

Graffiti is a nuisance and an eyesore, it also has an impact upon the local area. We strive to ensure that graffiti on Parish Council property is cleaned off as soon as practicable. For other council and utility company property, the Borough Council have a graffiti removal service. The number to call is 0118 9746307 or email waste.services@wokingham.gov.uk

The Borough Council also offer a free graffiti removal service to private residences, for further information please use the same contact details above.

Not only is it a nuisance, but graffiti is also criminal damage and offenders should be reported to the Police on 0845 8 505 505.

The Borough Council has recently replaced the Highways Consultative Board, which used to deal with specific highways requests (engineering works, improvements and so forth). The replacement is a new decision making process which it is hoped will speed up the process as well as making it more transparent.

In short, requests will generally go through five steps including consultation, reporting and feasibility and then onto implementation if all applicable criteria can be met.

Further details of the process can be found on the Borough Council’s website, by clicking on the ‘Highways Request Process’ link on the page at www.wokingham.gov.uk/transport-roads-waste

From all at Wargrave Parish Council, we would like to take this opportunity of wishing you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Your Parish Council