Easton Hill, between the junctions of Valley Road and Baydon Road. 23rd January 2025
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As part of our annual budget setting cycle, West Berkshire Council undertake a consultation with residents to ensure all voices across the district are listened to.
Councils across the country continue to face unprecedented financial pressures, and West Berkshire Council is no exception. Post the COVID pandemic, Councils including West Berkshire have experienced a high inflation environment, resulting in increasing costs and rising demand on our social services supporting our most vulnerable residents.

For further information please follow the link to the survey 

Are you, or someone you know, struggling with the cost of essentials

West Berkshire Council has been allocated funding to help local households most in need with costs such as energy bills, food, clothing, and housing in exceptional circumstances.

The Household Support Fund can provide short-term financial help all for households in need; we are especially looking to assist families, the vulnerable, those living alone, pensioners, unpaid carers, care leavers, and disabled people.

Payments are set as a maximum for the following households:
• Family Household Plus Payment (3 or more children) - £300
• Family Household Payment (1 to 2 children) - £250
• Household Payment - £150
You will need to provide supporting evidence to meet the criteria for your application.

Get in touch and see how the Household Support fund could help you or someone you know. Apply online: www.westberks.gov.uk/householdsupportfund
Call: 01635 503944
or email: [email protected]
You can also apply in person at your local West Berkshire Library, or visit the Council Office on Market Street, Newbury.

Please note, you MUST provide the following or your application may be rejected:
• Declaration of household income and expenditure
• One full month (30 days) bank statement for all accounts
• Confirmation of any savings
• Recent utility bill or evidence of a West Berkshire address
• If you are applying for a family household payment, the number of children in the household must be evidenced, i.e. Universal Credit / Child Benefit
You MAY ALSO provide the following to support your application:
• Evidence of utility debts
• Other supporting documents relevant to your claim Your application will not progress without these documents

household_support_fund_24.pdf

Environment Agency update:

• Tributaries to Thames peaked and are starting to reduce. Water making its way into the Thames and still rising.
• Expecting smaller number of flooded properties spread over the Thames Valley.
• Deploying temporary barriers in South Hinksey (Oxfordshire).
• 5-10mm of rain is not expected to see additional flooding, just high rivers.
• Thames still rising (but rate of rise has slowed in Oxford).
• Thames is rising along its length and rising in Berkshire. Flood warning for River Thames in Abingdon. Not anticipating flood warnings on the Thames, but it may depend on the rain fall. To review overnight and once the rain has fallen.
• Jubilee flood only just started so has plenty of capacity
• Purley – EA Ops team have a plan in place and they don’t need support outside the normal plan.

Met Office update:

• A dry day throughout the day.
• Low pressure in southern UK overnight brining rain mid to late evening. Expecting 5-10mm of rail, isolated areas 15mm.
• Generally, a dry picture until Saturday. More unsettled into Sunday but unsure on what that will look like yet.
• No weather warnings in place for the Thames Valley. 

Do continue to keep up to date by checking: West Berkshire - flood alerts and warnings - GOV.UK (check-for-flooding.service.gov.uk) and monitoring the levels on the river by checking Find river, sea, groundwater and rainfall levels - GOV.UK (check-for-flooding.service.gov.uk)
For any out of hours emergencies call 01635 551111, for all other non-emergencies please report issues on Report a Problem - West Berkshire Council to be picked up the next working day.

Winter Payment "Phishing"
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We have been made aware of the start of criminal activity using both text messages and emails to try and steal bank details by playing on older people's concerns about the Winter Fuel Payment.
What is the Winter Fuel Payment?Winter Fuel Payment is an annual tax-free payment for households that include someone born on or before 22 September 1958 (for 2024-25) and, from 2024 onwards, receive Pension Credit, Universal Credit, Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance or income-related Employment and Support Allowance, or an award of Child Tax Credit or Working Tax Credit of at least £26 for the tax year 2024-25. It's designed to help you cover your heating costs in winter, with households receiving up to £300. 
As you can see in the image on the right of a text message example, language is being used to make you more concerned and prompt you to tap or click the link in the message to "update your details." Unfortunately the link doesn't go to the UK Government website or anything to do with Winter Fuel Payments.
Initially it was a clone of the UK Government website designed specifically to encourage you to hand over your personal details - this is referred to as "Phishing" as the criminals are using the process to "fish" for your personal information by "dropping you a line" by text or email.
Fortunately the owner of the website space had software to detect such misuse of their webspace and it was taken down fairly quickly. However we expect this will keep happening with the fake website moving around the internet and being hosted on different machines across the world to evade action being taken against it.
Please be aware that these messages can arrive either as a SMS Text Message to your phone or as an email to your email account on your computer or your phone. This text actually originated from a phone number in Denmark, that was likely hijacked or cloned.
Clicking unknown links puts your information at risk, don't let the cyber-criminals get your information.

We have been informed by WBC that if anyone has any concerns about the conditions of the road surface​ in the parish, they should report it to WBC using the 'report a problem' link below.
westberks.highway-iams.uk/Live/PBLC/PIP/?cg=Surface%20Defects

on Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 October 2024 there will be a give-away event at the Padworth Integrated Waste Management Facility (IWMF), Padworth Lane, RG7 4JF, between 10am and 4pm where residents will be able to pick up Veolia's locally produced soil conditioner for free! In addition, we will have recycling collection points for old or unwanted vapes, small electricals and batteries.
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The soil conditioner is produced at Padworth from food and garden waste collected across West Berkshire and is being provided free of charge to West Berkshire Council residents through its partnership with Veolia.

Residents must bring along their own bags/boxes to load the compost into their cars and will be responsible for collecting and loading the soil conditioner from the site to their car. All soil conditioner must be contained in bags or boxes and cannot be loaded directly into cars.

No booking is necessary; however, we will be asking that attendees bring along ID or a bill with them to prove they are a resident of West Berkshire. Depending on demand there may be a need to queue for the soil conditioner. We also ask that attendees only collect a reasonable amount to ensure everyone has an opportunity to make use of this offer.
 Please note there will be vehicle restrictions in place. Vehicles listed as prohibited in the Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC) user guide on page 12 will not be allowed. No commercial vehicles will be admitted; this is for householders only. Residents must take necessary precautions for carrying the soil conditioner safely to their vehicle. The event organisers accept no liability for any injuries that may be sustained by residents loading their vehicles with the materials. Residents wishing to visit the household waste recycling centre must still book an appointment.
 More information including FAQ’s can be found on www.westberks.gov.uk/compost.

The public consultation on West Berkshire Councils  draft Waste Management Strategy has now gone live. We would love to hear your views as a parish or town council and also encourage you to share details of the consultation across your parish or town. 
 
Our vision is for a greener future and here's what we are striving for in our draft Waste Management Strategy:
 

• Increase recycling rates to 60% by 2030.
• Cut residual waste to 120kg per person per year by 2042.
• Help West Berkshire achieve Net Zero by 2030.
• Keep West Berkshire a great place to live and work.
• Lead the way and set an example for residents and businesses.

 
The consultation will focus on key themes like:
 

• Reducing waste and boosting recycling.
• Improving the appearance of our streets including town and village centres.
• Leading the way in sustainable waste practices.

 
We're exploring several options to improve waste management, increase recycling rates, and reduce our carbon footprint, through the draft Waste Management Strategy, with some of the actions under review including:
 
     •        Changing waste collection frequency (not including communal bins where you share bins with neighbours).

• Reviewing household waste containers.
• Expanding the range of items we recycle.
• Boosting education on waste management, especially in schools.
• Stepping up efforts to tackle littering and fly-tipping.

 
To take part, please complete the online survey at www.westberks.gov.uk/draft-waste-management-strategy by midnight on 6 November 2024.
 
Paper copies of the survey are available on request please ring 0165 519 080 or email [email protected] to request a copy. Copies will also available at the Council Office, Market Street Newbury, RG14 5LD from 1 October during our opening times Monday – Thursday 8:30-5pm and Friday 8:30-4:30pm.
 
In addition, we will have drop-in session at local libraries where a member of the team will be available to take questions and feedback on the draft strategy at the below times:
 
Thatcham Library
Monday 30 September    
9:30am - 12:00pm

Newbury Library 
Wednesday 2 October
9:00am - 12:00pm

Hungerford Library  
Wednesday 9 October
9:30am - 12:00pm

Burghfield Library 
Monday 14 October
2:00pm - 5:00pm

Theale Library   
Friday 18 October
2:00pm - 5:00pm

Lambourn Library 
Friday 25 October
10:00am - 11:30am

Mortimer Library   
Monday 28 October
2:00pm - 5:00pm

Pangbourne Library  
Thursday 31 October
9:30am - 12:00pm
 
Join us in helping shape our vision for a sustainable future by sharing your experiences and suggestions!
 Follow us at  http://www.facebook.com/recyclewestberkshire
 Click here to sign up to the monthly Environment Delivery Newsletter

 wbc_poster.pdf