E – NEWS

DECEMBER 2020

Wokingham Borough Community Response (WBCR) continues to be ready - if and when you need support this winter. One Front Door is run by Citizens Advice , supported by Wokingham Borough Council. One Front Door works closely with the Borough Council and local voluntary organisations such as the Wokingham Volunteer Centre, First Days, Involve, Link Visiting Scheme, Age UK and others. Do get in touch if you need help, for example, with prescription collections or a shopping service because you are self-isolating. It can also help with other Covid-19 effects such as debt advice from losing your job, statutory sick pay and benefits, mental health, and wellbeing. You can contact One Front Door on 0300 330 1189, by emailing [email protected] or visiting www.citizensadvicewokingham.org.uk

For the latest Covid-19 updates visit www.wokingham.gov.uk and sign up for the Covid-19 newsletter You can find the latest information on local cases and statistics on the Covid-19 dashboard at www.berkshirepublichealth.co.uk

Over 700 people have already signed up to become Covid Community Information Champions! You can join them and help your friends, family and community stay up to date with the latest facts, information, and advice about about Covid-19. To get involved, visit https://cutt.ly/5g0w2Zt enter your email and select ‘Covid Community Information Champions’.

1 E – NEWS

DECEMBER 2020

Do you like a real tree? The local Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) is having its annual Christmas tree fundraiser on Saturday 12 December from 11am to 3pm at Edgbarrow Woods Car Park, Wildmoor Heath, Sandhurst Road, Crowthorne near RG45 7PP The Scots pine trees are sourced from local heathland by the Wildlife Trust. The ‘green’ Christmas trees are sustainably grown, freshly cut the weekend of the sale and drop-resistant. Felling the trees helps with the heathland management and restoration. Mistletoe, holly, pine cones, willow stars, Wildlife Trust cards and calendars will also be on sale - and all are recyclable For further details visit https://www.bbowt.org.uk/events

This year the Advent Calendar is celebrating performances from live events held in the last 7 years. At 9am each morning to 24 December a new video will be released.

Visit www.wokinghamadvent.org.uk or view on Facebook @wokinghamadvent

This is a partnership project between Wokingham Town Council and ‘more arts’.

Wokingham Christmas Windows

This festive season why not decorate a window in your home for all your neighbours to see! You could use tissue paper, cut outs, lights, figures, pictures - whatever you would like to!

For more information, ideas and to share your pictures visit Facebook @wokinghamchristmaswindows

This event is organised by Churches Together Wokingham

There is free festive parking in Borough Council car parks on Saturdays on the run up to Christmas.

Alternatively enjoy your Christmas gift shopping safely from home while also supporting the borough’s small craft and gift artisans at this difficult time.

Visit Facebook and search for Wokingham Virtual Christmas Market 2020

2 E – NEWS

DECEMBER 2020

Rubbish and recycling

If you need more blue bags, garden waste sacks or food waste items in the run up to Christmas, there are now more locations open for you to get them. Waste items are available to collect at libraries in Woodley, Lower and Wokingham, which are operating with limited in-person services and reduced hours. You can order blue bags or garden waste sacks online at www.wokingham.gov.uk (search for ‘rubbish and recycling’) then bring your receipt, or just turn up for any food waste items you need. If you can’t visit at the times below, delivery can be arranged but check the instructions on the webpages for each item. Locations and timings are as follows:

Location Days Timings Shute End office, Wokingham Tuesday, Wednesday, Thurs- 9.30am-5pm (RG40 1BN) day

Wokingham library Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday 9.30am-1.30pm (RG40 2BB) Woodley library Monday, Wednesday, Friday 9am-1pm (RG5 4JA)

Lower Earley library Monday, Thursday 9.30am-1.30pm

Ryeish Green Sports Hub (RG7 Monday to Friday 9am to 3pm 1EP)

There is so much you can recycle at this time of year, from cardboard to foil sweet wrappers, food waste to real Christmas trees. If wrapping paper can be scrunched into a ball it can be recycled too, but please remove any tape, bows or ribbons first.

Visit www.wokingham.gov.uk or download the Re3cyclopedia app to find out what you can recycle and where. Put your paint to community use Over 100,000 litres of paint a year, enough to cover almost 180 football pitches, is disposed of by re3 residents. re3paint is a new initiative that encourages residents to use up their leftover paint and offers free tins of full or partly used paint to residents and communities. Never tip paint down the sink or your drains as one litre of improperly disposed of paint can pollute up to 250,000 litres of water. If you have any left-over paint that you no longer need, don’t put it out with your normal rubbish, instead bring it to the Recycling Centres so it can be redistributed to others. www.re3.fccenvironment.co.uk

3 E – NEWS

DECEMBER 2020

More on rubbish and recycling

Did you know that 75 per cent of all the materials in your old electrical items can be recycled and turned into useful things like life-saving equipment, children’s playground equipment and even new electricals? Re3 is running a campaign to encourage residents to recycle any old electricals they don't use or need. Anything with a plug, battery or cable can be recycled. If your old electrical item contains batteries or bulbs they need to be removed before recycling. With computers or smart devices remove the memory and SIM cards and delete your data. All you have to do is bag them and take them to the Recycling Centres in Reading or Bracknell.

Remember if your small electricals are in working order, you should leave them at the Reuse Area.

For more information visit www.wokingham.gov.uk or www.re3.fccenvironment.co.uk

Please recycle batteries responsibly

Batteries can be recycled but they should never go into blue rubbish bags or recycling boxes. You should always check whether batteries are in other items, then remove them and recycle the batteries separately. These can be taken to your nearest battery recycling facility, often at a nearby shop or supermarket. You can find your closest battery recycling point at www.recyclenow.com

An update on food waste recycling

It is now 18 months since food waste recycling started and since then over 8000 tonnes have been diverted from landfill. More than 500 tonnes is now being collected from the kerbside each month which goes through an anaerobic digestion process to turn it into energy.

What Wokingham borough has recycled so far is enough to provide power for 32,288 homes for a day or 88 homes for a year. The 2019/20 figure for food waste equates to reducing 52,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents (the measure for carbon footprint) helping us to move to the Borough Council’s goal of a carbon neutral borough by 2030.

4 E – NEWS

DECEMBER 2020

Roads and pavements • We know that there are a few problems with our roadsides in the Parish, from damaged and dirty roads signs or encroaching vegetation to narrow pavements. We are working with the Borough Council - the Highway Authority - to resolve these issues but it will take some time. • If your property is alongside a road or pavement you can do your bit by ensuring that hedges, trees and shrubs in your garden are cut back so that they dont cause an obstruction for pedestrians. This is particularly important for those with limited mobility, visual impairments or with prams or buggies. • You can report problems by visiting www.wokingham.gov.uk/roadworks-and-outdoor- maintenance/report-a-problem-with-roads-and-streets/ Flyposting • We have removed lots of old and unwanted notices from lamp columns, bus stops and other places recently, particularly on Ride, the Road and at the California Crossroads. As long as it is safe for you to do so, you can remove unwanted notices too. If in doubt just get in touch with us. Thames Valley Alert Thames Valley Police has advised of an increase in online shopping fraud, delivery scams, cyber attacks and even thefts of catalytic converters from cars. For information, crime alerts, tips on how to shop online securely, advice on securing garden buildings used by those working from home and much more sign up to Thames Valley Alert at www.thamesvalleyalert.co.uk Out and about on foot and bike in Finchampstead We have produced an advice note on which rights of way can be used by cyclists and horse riders, explaining why there are restrictions. You can see this on our website www.finchampstead-pc.gov.uk (search for local walks) and we are also circulating it with this newsletter. Winter Wheelers and a new interactive cycle map

Wokingham Borough Council has launched an interactive cycle map that will help residents find appropriate cycle routes around the borough. This shows routes on and off road, as well as helpful information like places to securely lock up your bike. The council hopes that the new map, together with new cycling infrastructure, including on London Road in Wokingham and the new relief road Observer Way in , will encourage residents to sign up this year for Winter Wheelers, a cycling challenge. The council has teamed up once again with Love2Ride to promote their cycling advent calendar for adults, offering discount codes for Proviz, Beryl and Loffi as a reward to those residents logging a ride between 1 and 25 December, as well as chance to win a brand new e-bike.

To find out more about the council’s new interactive cycle map visit www.myjourneywokingham.com/cycling/cycle-maps To find out more about My Journey’s bike classes, Doctor Bike and Winter Wheelers visit www.myjourneywokingham.com/events.

5 E – NEWS

DECEMBER 2020

Gorse Ride regeneration takes a major step forward

We are really pleased that Wokingham Borough Council, the Planning Authority, has approved the plans for the second phase of the Gorse Ride regeneration, a project which has the full support of the Parish Council.

The approved plans will see existing poor quality homes replaced with 249 brand new energy efficient homes, a massive 74% of which will be affordable homes to meet local demand

The new homes have also been designed to be incredibly energy efficient providing high levels of insulation and low carbon innovations including centralised district heating schemes in the apartments and air source heat pumps in the new houses and bungalows. This helps the council with its ambitions to tackle fuel poverty across the borough and address the climate emergency. Arnett Avenue, the first phase of the regeneration project, will provide 46 new homes which are due to be completed in Spring 2021. Work on Phase 2 will start later in 2021.

First Days Christmas Campaign First Days is a charity which aims to reduce the long term effect of poverty on children by making sure they have all the essential items they need for their early years and at school, and has launched a Christmas stocking campaign to give to children whose families are struggling this winter. You can help by donating a gift, filling a stocking, ordering a gift from the charity’s Amazon wish list or by making a financial donation. www.firstdays.net/christmasgiving

The FBC Centre will be closed from 4pm on 22 December until 9am on Monday 4 January 2021.

The Parish Council Office at the FBC Centre is not currently open and staff will continue to work from home in January.

The Library at the Centre remains closed but there is lots available online. www/wokingham.gov.uk/libraries

6 E – NEWS

DECEMBER 2020

Digital Donations As part of its commitment to reducing loneliness and isolation in the borough, the borough council has joined forces with local charities, as part of the Wokingham Borough Community response, to provide donated IT equipment to vulnerable residents who don’t have the knowledge or tools they need to go online. The ‘Digital Donations’ initiative will improve their ability to access the internet, ultimately helping to reduce the impact and risk of loneliness and isolation in the borough. The Council has been working with Citizen’s Advice and other key partners across the voluntary sector as part of its One Front Door scheme, and has identified key individuals and families within the community who are most at risk from digital exclusion and who would benefit from access to donated IT equipment. This includes households whose income falls below the poverty line. As a result, the Council is encouraging businesses, charities and members of the public to donate good quality IT equipment that is no more than five years old; including computers and laptops (minimum Windows 7, or OS Version 10.13), tablets (minimum Android 7, or OS supported) and keyboards (USB or wireless, complete with all keys). The Council has enlisted the help of a local IT business to make the donated devices as safe and easy-to-use as possible. They will then be passed on to local charities, including the Link Visiting Scheme and First Days, to deliver to residents and provide guidance on how to use them. All devices must be restored to factory settings before being donated, and items should also be fully sanitised. These can be donated at several sites across the Borough from Monday 14 December, including: • Wokingham Library – open 9.30am-1.30pm on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday • Woodley Library – open 9am-1pm on Monday, Wednesday and Friday • Library – open 9.30am-1.30pm on Monday and Thursday If you, or someone you know, would benefit from this scheme please contact One Front Door - see page 1 of this newsletter. Christmas and New Year rubbish and recycling collection days

Normal collection day Actual collection day Delay

25 December 2020 28 December 2020 3 days 28 December 2020 29 December 2020 1 day There will be some small changes to rubbish and recycling collection days 29 December 2020 30 December 2020 1 day during Christmas and New Year. 30 December 2020 31 December 2020 1 day Collections may be earlier than normal 31 December 2020 2 January 2021 2 days so please leave your waste out for 1 January 2021 4 January 2021 3 days collection the night before. 4 January 2021 5 January 2021 1 day Collections will return to normal on 11 5 January 2021 6 January 2021 1 day January 2021. 6 January 2021 7 January 2021 1 day You can check your collection day at 7 January 2021 8 January 2021 1 day www.wokingham.gov.uk 8 January 2021 9 January 2021 1 day

7 E – NEWS

DECEMBER 2020

Some of our recent activities Here are a few of the things we have been up to over the last month. We have:

• Held a Main Council meeting and meetings of the Finance & General Management Committee, Planning Committee, and the HR Sub Committee

• Attended the Blackwater Valley Countryside Partnership AGM (Cllr Simon Weeks is Vice Chair of the Partnership), and the Gorse Ride Community Steering Group (Cllr Steve Bowers is Chair of the Group)

• Attended the Finchampstead Allotment Association AGM

• Met Barkham Parish Council representatives to discuss joint working on road safety and cycling projects

• Responded to the WBC Housing Strategy consultation

• Provided a grant for a Christmas Grub Club project to support local families

• Appointed an IT company to provide support for the Council

• Drafted our budget for 2021/2022

• Agreed to provide Community Infrastructure Levy funds to the California Crossroads improvement scheme to be implemented in 2021

• Produced an advice note on which rights of way can be used for cycling, and why there are restrictions

• Continued monitoring traffic volume and speed on our roads, and using our post mounted speed indicator devices to remind drivers of the speed limit

• Continued to liaise with Wokingham Community Response The Finchampstead Neighbourhood Development Plan Group - including volunteer residents plus several of our Councillors - has continued to work on the Plan. A public consultation will now take place in January / February.

The office may still be closed but we are still working - so please get in touch if you wish. We are now meeting using Zoom video conferencing and members of the public are welcome to attend a Main Council or Committee meeting - please contact us if you would like to do so.

Best wishes for Christmas and the New Year from the Councillors and staff at Finchampstead Parish Council

FINCHAMPSTEAD PARISH COUNCIL PARISH OFFICE, FBC CENTRE, GORSE RIDE NORTH, FINCHAMPSTEAD RG40 4ES Tel: 0118 908 8164 email: [email protected] www.finchampstead-pc.gov.uk

To subscribe or unsubscribe to this newsletter and other Parish Council information please contact us at the address above or follow the link on our website. 8