I am the ward member (district councillor) for Lambourn and the representative on West Berkshire Council. (The Lambourn Ward has the same borders as the parish of Lambourn.) These reports give a monthly summary of the work that I’ve been involved with in the ward. If matters take more than a month to resolve – which sadly is often the case – then expect to see them referred to more than once. You’ll see my contact details at the end of each section below if you need to get in touch about any of these, or anything else.

Just as some MPs also have executive responsibilities, so do some district councillors at local level. It might be useful to give you a quick overview of what mine are (some of these changed in April 2021):

• I have a seat on the nine-member Executive (WBC’s main decision-making body).
• I am the portfolio holder for Internal Governance (which includes includes IT, HR, Legal and electoral services, customer communication and all things administrative).
• I am also the portfolio holder for Leisure and Culture (leisure includes leisure centres, playing pitches and anything to do with sport. Culture includes libraries and all of the cultural and heritage buildings and events in the district).
• I am also leading on the Leisure Centre and Football strategies which is, to put it mildly, a testing role.
• I am a member of the Western Area Planning Committee which considers planning issues which either the relevant the ward member/s or a sufficient number of residents feel need to be looked at more closely before a decision is made.

My colleague Clive Hooker is the ward member for Downlands, which includes the parishes of East Garston and Great Shefford, so please contact him if your enquiry relates to that area.

Notes: The reports were provided at the end of the first-named month below. Any links in the text have been added by Penny Post which will take you to articles on the Penny Post website or elsewhere. 

November/December 2021

Christmas is rapidly approaching and I have already visited a highly successful and well attended Christmas market in the Church in Eastbury, as well as my first charity Christmas Carol Service. Christmas cards are being written and I have even bought my first Christmas present – so I’m not quite as domestically disorganised as I usually am at this time of year.

Anyway, getting to the key issues of the day…

Neighbourhood Development Plan

The steering group has had a further meeting with the appointed planning consultant which gave more clarity to the direction that we need to follow. A workshop is being set up for the first week of January to get us towards the final draft. I know for some this has seemed a prolonged process, but Compton has taken nearly four years over its one (which is now about to approach the final fence of the public referendum) and I am assured that ours is well on track.

For more information on Lambourn’s NDP, please click here.

Membury Industrial Estate and the B4000

I had a very successful meeting with senior Highways and Planning officers at West Berkshire Council (WBC) where I was able to highlight key issues of local residents on the use of Membury Industrial Estate and its impact on the B4000. The main points that came from this were:

• Traffic data was provided by WBC. It was recognised that the January 2020 data was pre-Covid so that the increase may well be under-stated. The detailed figures were broken down into time and size of vehicle.
• I agreed to provide traffic data from the Woodlanders Action Group.
• WBC will do traffic surveys on the B4000 every two months until the Covid effect is over.
• WBC is approaching the successor to Highways England to look at access to/from the service station. The J14 Chieveley example was cited as a possible way forward.
• The proposed 40mph on Ramsbury Road is out for consultation until 16 December. The likely implementation date will be towards the end of 2022 (it normally takes a total of 18 months from start to finish, apparently).
• WBC is going through all existing planning consents on the Membury Industrial Estate and checking on there conditions attached, which should be completed imminently. WBC’s Enforcement team will then talk to all occupiers reminding them of these conditions.
• It was agreed to arrange a meeting with representatives of the Action Group when this work is completed in late January, face-to-face in the Council Offices. I am endeavouring to get Sue Halliwell (the relevant Executive Director) to attend.

Planning

Last month I had a meeting with Charlie Walker of Walker Logistics to see how their plans were developing. They have invited three representatives of the Action Group and me to a further meeting: at this they will a presentation of their proposals for comment ahead of a detailed planning application early in the New Year.

The owners of the site next to Membury Service Station, part of which had the withdrawn asphalt plant application on it, have reapplied for the previous consent (which had expired).

A full list of all Lambourn Ward applications over the last month can be found on Lambourn.org.

Youth provision in Lambourn

On the initiative of Anna Field, I have been involved in looking at the provision of facilities for the teenagers in Lambourn – it’s fair to say that these are, in my view, woefully inadequate. We had a very successful “meet and greet” of the school busses in the Market Square on 19 November – Berkshire Youth was there with its minibus (as was Anna, with free pizza), with support from WBC’s community liaison team. We got a good response to an on-line questionnaire which is now being rolled out to all non-primary schools in the catchment area. You can click here to take part in this – you don’t have to be in Lambourn to do so as responses are welcome from anywhere in the Valley. Early days but at least the wheels are in motion.

Other Issues

• Drains in Parsonage Lane – WBC is going to ensure that there is no further blockage.
• Broadband in Upper Lambourn – we seem to be finally getting there and hopefully the area will fully connected to the twenty-first century by the spring.
• The Remembrance Day events were well attended and well organised in all of the villages.

Traffic in Eastbury

WBC is now committed to the Eastbury road quietening measures for which I have been pushing for nearly two years. Hopefully they will be in place in the next few months. If successful I will be asking for similar roll outs around Lambourn.

WBC matters

On the Council Executive front, my main task at the moment is to try to get planning consent for the new proposed Sports Hub in Monks Lane in Newbury. This will be a fantastic facility and will become home to the Newbury men’s and women’s teams, hopefully for the 2022-23 season. As some of you may have seen, I have been interviewed twice by Meridien TV News regarding this.

Your double-jabbed councillor

My arm feels a bit like a pin cushion with both flu and Covid booster jabs – but could I urge you to take advantage of them, particularly in the light of the new Omicron variant. Some vaccination slots are available at the Lambourn Pharmacy – these can be booked through the NHS website. (Note, however, that if you want to book your jab at the pop-up clinic at Hungerford Cricket Club in December this will not be offered as an option on the NHS site and you need to book separately here.)

A month off

Don’t worry – I’m not jetting off to the tropics for the next four weeks. However, I usually skip my December/January newsletter unless anything important crops up: so, assuming that doesn’t happen, I’ll be in touch again at the beginning of February. It only remains for me to wish you all a very happy Christmas and a healthy and successful new year.

Get in touch

If you need to contact me on 07836 718100 or Howard.woollaston1@westberks.gov.uk.

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