Howard Woollaston: Parish Matters – September/October 2023

Howard Woollaston
West Berkshire Councillor: Lambourn Ward

September/October 2023

The nights are noticeably drawing in and the clocks change in only two weeks’ time. As an owl rather than a lark, I wish the government would leave it as it is, but I am sure that others think differently.

I spent three enjoyable days at the Conservative Party Conference last week and have to say it felt much more upbeat than the media portrayed. There were some really interesting fringe meetings, and I attended a number on housing issues.

I have had my Covid jab at Graham Jones’ Pharmacy in Lambourn and will be having my flu one at the surgery this week. I would encourage anyone who is entitled to one to get on with it.

I am feeling very green and eco-friendly this month. The house I bought a few weeks ago already had an air-sourced heat pump and I have just signed up for 13 solar panels so my environmental impact will as a result be much reduced. I will report back in a year or so to let you know the financial and other benefits.

Sewage and flood risks

I attended by Zoom the West Berkshire Council Scrutiny Commission special meeting to question and get progress updates from both Thames Water (TW) and The Environment Agency (EA). I have a set of the slides of the TW presentation which I will happily email to anyone interested.

Key observations as follows: –

• TW are financially robust even with a £14bn debt pile.
• Of their total annual income, 48% is reinvested into the infrastructure.
• They have a five-year plan from 2025 to spend £18.7bn on infrastructure improvements – 40% up on 2020/25.
• A lot of the problems are a result of hydrogen sulphide corroding pipes and joints.
• They claim that no external dividends have been paid for six years but that excludes debt repayment and interest. Also, being cynical, are there any internal dividends?
• Their Corporation Tax exposure is limited because all investment expenditure can be used to offset this.
• The system generally works well in normal circumstances, but the breakdown occurs when there is infiltration of the foul sewers from groundwater springs, very heavy rainfall or where private property is mistakenly connected to the foul sewer rather than the surface water one.

On the face of it, the TW presentation was impressive although I am absolutely convinced that they were being economical with the truth in places. Bear in mind that Thames Water does not just cover the Thames Valley but also London and stretches out into large parts of Essex, Surrey, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, and Buckinghamshire.

TW asks residents to report any problems by clicking here. They aim to respond with engineers in an hour and a maximum of two hours.

EA did not have a formal presentation and what they did was woolly and not inspirational. Much of their lack of performance is driven by lack of resources.

In summary, it was a useful session which is to be repeated but we need to drill down further on specifics, particularly locally.

The Lambourn Valley Flood and Pollution Forum meets on Monday, and I am sure this will be a hot topic of debate. More to follow next month.

CIL bids

We will hopefully be submitting two bids by the end of the month for Three Posts Lane and a new flagpole for Lambourn Church – fingers firmly crossed…

Membury Industrial Estate

This old faithful is back on the agenda as a planning application for the asphalt plant has been resubmitted. I have agreed with the Parish Council to call it into Western Area Planning Committee, if the planning officers are minded to approve it, so that it at least gets a public airing.

Consent was given to Martin Collins for three external storage areas on their site to house plant etc but was heavily conditioned with a requirement for long term screening using trees and plants.

I am also investigating, again, the possibility of using the service station for HGV access. Last time it was a point-blank no but there have been a number of accidents on Ermin Street which I feel gives some remote hope that National Highways might see sense if it can be secured using number-plate recognition or other technology.

Speeding

Another old faithful from in-boxes past. I am renewing my efforts to get 20mph limits in Lambourn High Street and Eastbury. I am rather more hopeful this time as I have found a number of these limits around villages in West Berkshire, and I think we have a good case.

School transport

I believe that the problem is solved for now but do get in touch if that is not the case.

I am going to be asking the Portfolio Holder for Education and Children’s Services to review the current policy on charging. I have always thought it completely inequitable for parents either side of Newbury Street to have to pay or not depending on whether their children went to King Alfred’s in Wantage or John O’Gaunt in Hungerford, depending on which side of the road they live in –  the boundary for the nearest school roughly runs down the middle of the road.

Planning enforcement

I recently had a meeting with Eric Owens, the Service Director for Planning, whose brief includes Enforcement. There are currently four ongoing cases in the ward, and I have expressed my profound disappointment at the lack of action.

The main problem is that, whilst WBC recruited an additional Officer, another left so they are again down to only two and are actively recruiting. I have agreed to lodge a formal complaint to Enforcement copied into him which hopefully will have the desired effect.

Parking consultation

A consultation on parking across West Berkshire has launched and closes on 12 November. I have read the draft and there is some good stuff in there. Please do look at it when it is available: your input is really valuable.

Lambourn’s Neighbourhood Development Plan

We are hopefully getting near the end of this process with a further two meetings scheduled over the next few days. It is a very extensive and complex document which has to go to WBC’s Full Council, then to the Inspector, and then back to Full Council before you get to vote on it in a referendum. After this it becomes part of the WBC’s local planning policies for this parish.

It really is true local involvement in the way we want to see the future. Chieveley and Cold Ash’s plans came to Council for the first-time last week. They were as detailed as ours will be and took considerably longer to produce.

Laura Farris MP

Laura, who is our MP and the adopted Conservative Candidate for the next General Election, was in Lambourn at my invitation on the afternoon of Friday 22 September. We were in St Michael’s Close and then up into Child Street, Rockfell Road and Flintjack Place where we met a number of residents. She has promised to come back regularly but clearly has a very busy schedule.

Get in touch

Whatever is concerning you please do get in touch 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.