Howard Woollaston: Quarterly Update – July 2019

Dear All,

As well as representing Lambourn I am honoured to have been appointed to the Executive of West Berkshire Council with the portfolio of Internal Governance . This covers such areas as Legal, Human Resources, Revenues & Benefits and Health & Safety. I am also the Councils representative on the Police & Crime Commissioners Panel which has an overseeing role of the Commissioner’s Office and on a number of committees including Planning, Housing, Property Investment and Personnel. All in all a pretty big workload!

At the full West Berkshire Council Meeting held on the 2^nd July 2019, several Motions were put forward to the Council to consider.

The two main ones were that West Berkshire Council declare a climate change emergency. The Motion was discussed extensively with fourteen Members contributing to the debate.  The Motion was passed with cross party support and will now go forward to the relevant cross party committee for further consideration.

The second Motion was for West Berkshire Council not to support the expansion of Heathrow Airport.  The Chairman stated that this matter would not be debated in accordance with the Council Meeting Constitution and that the matter be referred to the Transport Advisory Committee for consideration.  The matter will then return to the Council at its meeting scheduled for the 12^thSeptember 2019 for further consideration.  The Council will then determine at that meeting what, if any, response will be made to the Heathrow Airport consultation which closes on the 13^th September 2019 which Members’ considered gave sufficient time to get the response submitted.

I have been involved in a number of local issues including the temporary closure of the B4001 at the M4 Bridge and the impact on the agricultural community at harvest time , traffic  on the B4000 , tree cutting and some planning matters . I had a wonderful visit to the school in Lambourn and was seriously impressed by the dedication of the staff, the quality of facilities and the behaviour of the children . The highlight was meeting the Pupil’s school council and the opportunity to discuss current topics with them including climate change.

I will continue to attend and support the Parish Council meetings as I can where you can initially raise any local issues but unfortunately many of these clash with the Planning Committee meetings.  If there are any matters you wish to bring to my attention outside of these meetings you can contact me on howard.woollaston1@westberks.gov.uk or 07836 718100.

For any problems with highways or waste collection, you can go onto the West Berkshire Council website and search ‘report a problem’ or call West Berkshire Council on 01635 551111 and ask for the relevant helpdesk.

Kind Regards

Howard

Howard Woollaston

West Berkshire Councillor for Lambourn
Executive Portfolio Holder for Internal Governance
Howard.woollaston1@westberks.gov.uk
07836 718100