Howard Woollaston: Parish Matters – November 2022

Howard Woollaston
West Berkshire Council Conservative member for Lambourn Ward
Executive Member for Housing , Leisure and Culture

The clocks have gone back and, as Professor Chris Whitty memorably remarked about this time last year, winter is coming. How things have changed this autumn – three Prime Ministers, an imminent recession, further increases in energy bills, rising inflation and a hike in interest rates with the inevitable effect on mortgages. I do at least feel that the grown-ups are back in charge (and that things may not be as bad as they look at the moment).

As a result, my column this month has a slightly different emphasis from usual and majors on cost-of-living issues and the work which both WBC and the local community is doing to address this.

Cost-of-living issues

• Cost-of-living hub

The Cost-of-Living Support Hub has been set up by WBC to help make it easier for residents to get advice and practical support if they are struggling with finances. Staff are available to provide information around cost-of-living issues and to match needs with the support available both nationally and locally, including from local charities and voluntary organisations.

You can browse the hub online to find information about financial support benefits, help with food costs and childcare and money saving tips, as well as support if your mental health is being affected. If you need advice specific to your circumstances or need additional support, you can get in touch with WBC staff via the hub. You can also email the hub or telephone it on 01635 503 333.

The initiative has been set up by WBC in partnership with Greenham Trust and the Volunteer Centre West Berkshire and will work closely with the local community and voluntary sector.

The hub is open from Monday to Thursday 8.30 to 5.00pm and Friday 8.30am to 4.30pm. The website, of course, never sleeps.

• Community Life Connected

West Berkshire Council is encouraging community groups which are offering a “warm space” to have an entry on its Community Life Connected Map.

This map has been coproduced by a steering group consisting of Community Groups, aDoddle and Council officers in response to a community request to map local grass roots support following the Covid pandemic. There is no cost for having an entry on the map nor for accessing it.  The map provides small community groups with an opportunity to share information about local support and encourage local volunteering. While groups can include website or social media links in their entry, it also offers those who do not have the resources (in terms of time, expertise, or funds) to have a mini web presence totally free of charge.

There are bookmarks and flyers available to promote the Community Life Connected map and the team would be happy to arrange delivery of these resources to Lambourn if helpful.

I have recently received this comment from the Community Life Connected team:

“We haven’t been approached by any community groups or the Parish Council in Lambourn offering a warm space as yet but are keen to support with an offer of help to create the map entries for warm spaces in Lambourn as and when they arise.  The Lambourn Junction community group has started an entry on the map for its CIC and we would be happy to support them adding more content if helpful.”

• Winter messaging for older residents

WBC’s Public Health team will soon be sharing winter messaging for older residents around staying warm and well this winter. This will be through a combination of emails cascaded by the Ageing Well steering group partners, social media posts, work with voluntary sector partners and hard copy resources for residents who are not digitally connected.

Sue Butterworth is the WBC Officer coordinating this effort and she is happy to take calls if there are problems or questions. You can contact her on sue.butterworth@westberks.gov.uk, 01635 503 410 or 07387 258 245.

• Warm Welcome

Finally, congratulations to Helen Noll for Warm Welcome in the Walwyn Hall Lambourn. The elderly and those living alone are invited at 12.15 on Thursday 10 November for a hot meal in a warm place and the opportunity to socialise. It is hoped to be open until March. Yet again, Lambourn’s volunteers are rising to the occasion.

The Neighbourhood Development Plan

The request for sites generated a good response which has now been analysed by the consultants. The final residents’ feedback sessions should take place shortly.

The whole process continues to be impacted by the nutrient neutrality regulations. These were introduced in many parts of the country, including the River Lambourn catchment, in March 2022 to protect rivers from the serious problems of phosphate and nitrate pollution. These have, however, severely complicated, and thus delayed the process of approving new developments.

More information on the Lambourn NDP can be found by clicking here.

Leisure centres and swimming pools

Many of you may have seen the recent BBC local news item about the squeeze on local authority finances forcing them to close leisure centres and pools. I am pleased to report that WBC’s Executive recently voted unanimously to keep all of ours open despite very significant cost increases.

Leisure centres and pools are very energy hungry,

and the financing problem is exacerbated by the number of people visiting them. In the district in 2019, There were about 1,000,000 users of the district’s facilities in 2019 but this is now down to just over 750,000 as a result of post-Covid habit changes and, probably, cost-of-living issues.

Swimming is the second most popular exercise after walking and we have a truly excellent pool in Hungerford with some very competitive membership packages – so please use it.

Lambourn Library

Lambourn Library’s opening hours will be changing in the new year. From the week commencing 2 January the library will close at 5.30pm on Tuesdays (30 minutes earlier than at present) and remain open until for an additional hour on Wednesdays, closing at 1pm.

• Tuesday 2pm to 5.30pm.
• Wednesday 10am to 1pm.
• Friday (unchanged) 10am to 5pm.
• Saturday (unchanged) 10am to 12.30pm.

Our Library is a fantastic resource for the community supported by our amazing volunteers and with a lot going on for people of all ages – it’s well worth a visit.

Food-waste collections

Separate weekly food waste collections were launched on 31 October for residents who receive a kerbside collection, so don’t forget to put your new green outside caddy out for collection every week on the same day as your recycling and black bin collections.

By recycling your food waste, you will help cut down on what ends up in landfill sites or incineration facilities. Food waste sent to landfill doesn’t harmlessly break down. It has a big impact on the environment as it rots and releases methane, a greenhouse gas that is over 20 times more harmful than carbon dioxide.

If you have not received your food-waste caddies, please email me with your full address and I’ll ensure this is remedied.

Green wheeled bins with only food waste in won’t be collected now that the weekly food waste service has started.

This article in Penny Post has more on the subject.

CIL and members’ bids

The hoped-for CIL bid for street-light replacement has hit a major hurdle. A member’s bid has to be for new infrastructure, not a replacement, a requirement which the streetlights clearly do not satisfy. Not to give up, I have asked if this could be a mainstream CIL bid and await a response.

The next round of members’ bid funding is now open (note that the £3,000 I can raise needs to be match funded) and I have outlined under the Speeding section below more about the current bid.

Speeding

I am delighted that the Parish Council is setting up a community Speedwatch group. They are joining me in a members bid to provide signage and equipment for the initiative.

There are three entry roads into Eastbury and five into Lambourn and there is also consideration being given to Ramsbury Road in the Woodlands.

Please do get in touch with the Clerk, Karen Wilson, if you would like to be involved: info@lambourn-pc.gov.uk

Membury Industrial Estate and the B4000

Planning consent was granted for a renewal of the B8 (storage & distribution use) consent on the access road to Membury Services westbound, despite strong representations against from both me and the Parish Council. The point was made strongly however about both HGV traffic generation and avoiding any subsequent change of use to an asphalt plant as was previously attempted.

I will continue in my attempts to limit further growth there.

John O’Gaunt School

Whilst obviously not in Lambourn, many of our school-age children attend JOG. I mentioned last time about WBC’s financial contribution to the new 3G artificial sports pitch and the grant application. I am delighted to announce that this has now been approved and hopefully work can commence early in 2023. It is a great example of partnership success by Hungerford Town FC, Hungerford Town Council, JOG and WBC and will be a great facility for the wider community.

The dance studio provision is going through the final stages of financial approval and tendering but we look to be on track for it to be in place during the summer 2023 holidays.

Get in touch

I am here to help if I can. You can contact me on 07836 718 100 or Howard.woollaston1@westberks.gov.uk.

My thanks as ever to Brian Quinn of Penny Post for bringing his journalistic expertise to my ramblings.