Newsletter Summer 2020

Swallowfield Parish Newsletter Summer 2020 A perennial issue for our parish is litter and fly- tipping. The annual Parish Clean-up Day had to be cancelled but it is good to see that a number of people have taken to doing a spot of litter-picking as part of their daily exercise routine. At least it gives one a reason for getting out and about. Other residents have been active improving our open spaces – planting seeds and flowers, tending to the community orchard, cleaning the area around the war memorial, doing ground clearance at The Marshes nature reserve. Chris Morrissey has generously offered to provide and plant a tree at the junction of the Odiham and Basingstoke Roads to replace the one demolished by an errant driver a few years ago and the parish council has secured the agreement of Chairman’s Report WBC which owns the land in question. It is great to be able to enjoy the fine weather and Although the planned sunshine, and the opportunity to get outdoors more VE Day celebrations after such a long period of lockdown. Now the could not proceed, lockdown has been eased, the parish council has there were various been able to re-open its car parks. The tennis courts impromptu and and multipurpose games court are open for use suitably socially subject to government guidance and the tennis club distanced parties to is also following Lawn Tennis Association advice. mark the occasion. Members of the community have certainly not been Parish Council official idle and the community has pulled together in so business continues many different and innovative ways. As they say, but not as we know it! necessity is the mother of invention. The Clerk and The parish council is incredibly grateful to all those Finance Officer are who are volunteering and helping others: from working from home shopping, to collecting prescriptions and whatever and the usual phone numbers have been redirected else they can do to support those who need help. So – one of the advantages of the Internet-based phone many residents are involved but as a council we system the Council now uses is its flexibility. The should like to thank Jenny Burnett, Mark Binns and Caretaker and Warden are able to continue working their willing team of volunteers in particular. The whilst observing social distancing. The opportunity parish council helped by arranging a redirectable has been taken to catch up with a host of local contact phone number and by sponsoring the maintenance jobs and to have a bit of a clear out printing and delivery of the community group flyer to whilst the halls are closed. No doubt many of us have all households which gives details and contact been doing much the same thing at home! Meetings information. Local Facebook groups such as the are now being conducted as online ‘virtual’ meetings “Keep Riseley Beautiful”, “Swallowfield Community” as permitted by recent regulations and we will and “Swallowfield Community Help Group” have also continue to do so until further notice. been providing a valuable service and a channel to Featured Article in this Issue inform and exchange information. Swallowfield, Riseley and Farley Hill Covid19 Volunteers Page 2 1 www.swallowfieldpc.gov.uk Chairman’s Report continued community, we are pro-green energy but the fields which comprise the proposed site are the gateway to Anyone wishing to ‘attend’ one of our public online the village and are very visible from Castle Hill. This meetings should contact the Clerk who will provide is not the right place for a large industrial plant and its details of how to join the meeting on a Windows PC, very obtrusive security fencing. Android, iOS devices or by telephone. There was no Annual Parish Meeting this year but we have Transport - potholes included the usual Annual Report as the centrefold to Our roads have been quieter in these difficult times this newsletter. and has taken the parish back to feeling truly rural There was also no Annual Meeting of the Parish once again. Wokingham have not been slow in Council either which is when the members elect their taking this opportunity to work on a few of our roads Chairman and other roles. The Council has decided with quick resurfacing projects on Church Road in that the current Chairman and other roles will Farley Hill and School Road in Riseley. Having said continue unchanged for the time being. that, potholes remain a challenge across the parish. Do report them to Wokingham – a quick Many forthcoming local events have had to be Google search on Wokingham and pothole will take cancelled including the Church Fete, Swallowfield you to the right place. Show and Farley Horse Trials. This is of course very Jonathan Wheelwright sad but keeping safe is in everyone’s best interests. On a positive note, we have been able to enjoy clearer skies, less aircraft noise and traffic. We have all had to re-evaluate how we go about our daily Swallowfield, Riseley and family and business lives. The Internet has provided Farley Hill Covid19 us with the means to do things differently, work more Volunteers effectively, help one another, keep in touch with At the start of the pandemic friends and family, do the shopping and reduce the informal groups of friends and neighbours were formed in by Laura Upshall, Riseley Julia Bailey, Riseley Common, Neil Marshall, Swallowfield centre, Harry Cannon, Farley Hill, and in the Parish Office Liz Halson was receiving many offers of help but could not coordinate it with everything else that was going on. As some one in the ‘vulnerable’ group who was already self-isolating, but wanted to help, I volunteered to coordinate whatever was going to emerge. At that time is was unclear what Wokingham or the national offers of support would look like. In that first week, with financial help from the Parish Council, we managed to get a phone line that could be transferred to different numbers, a second coordinator, flier designed, printed and delivered to need for travel. Hence there is no doubt that some all the houses in the Parish, a second coordinator, good things will come out of this eventually. Mark Binns, (a Parish Councillor), 50 volunteers and Stay safe and please remember to observe social our first few distancing. clients. We also John Anderson linked with Chairman Amanda Cracknell, the social prescriber Planning and Transport Report at Swallowfield Planning – Solar Farm Medical Practice, When it comes to unexpected applications, the so that patients proposal for another solar farm in the parish at the requiring bottom of Castle Hill in Farley Hill was another medication surprise. Once again there was a strong local collection were response to this application – not for what it was, so given our contact much as where it was. My sense is that, as a details. 2 www.swallowfieldpc.gov.uk we have managed to connect with Zoe, a local resident who works for the Grub Club, in Wokingham, and has provided fresh food parcels for clients. The Calico Trust (see Page 21) have also made a food voucher grant to a client in need. To date we have 118 volunteers, and 32 registered families, although the volunteers are supporting many more. This seems to be in line with the statistics nationally, and it is very gratifying that so many in our community are willing to help their neighbours. We envisage that the need will continue as long as the very vulnerable need to self-isolate, (presumably until a vaccine is produced), and are very grateful to all those volunteers prepared to continue their efforts. If you would like some support, in terms of shopping, medication collection, pet care or just a regular chat on the phone, please see contact details on the poster to the left. Jenny Burnett Local Member Update Wokingham Borough Council In those first few days of shortages of toilet rolls, eggs, bread and other necessities we decided to produce identity cards for volunteers to show when they were collecting medication or shopping for others, and these were designed by Phillippa Broadhurst, one of our volunteers, and distributed over the weekend during peoples’ exercise time. We had a few hiccups with our technology and Alistair Corrie gave us an online tutorial on managing the Businesses in Wokingham Borough benefit spreadsheets, and then we were really up and from multi-million support package running, well ahead of anything else locally. Businesses in Wokingham Borough have benefitted It quickly became apparent that almost all our from about £34 million of support to date during the volunteers were already looking out for their Covid-19 crisis, this is made up of business grants neighbours and shopping and collecting medication and rate relief. for them, and that we were then able to provide a back The £34million is made up of more than £16.5million up if they had to self-isolate or became ill and needed in grants provided directly to businesses and about support themselves. This was dramatically illustrated £17.5million in business rate relief. when Tony Fleming came off the volunteer list because he had Covid19 symptoms. Kellie Ward We are a Borough of business and a council that agreed to walk his dog, Gus, and shopped for him. supports our entrepreneurs, SMEs and larger Unfortunately, very suddenly Tony succumbed to companies and this is a time when they need us the Covid19, and Kellie nobly fostered Gus. Tony’s family most. The scale and speed of the financial help being asked if we knew of anyone who could offer Gus a provided is unprecedented because the challenges permanent home, and another of our volunteer facing many of our businesses are unprecedented.

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