Work on the improvements to California Crossroads is about to start and, whatever our views on it may be, we now need to come together and support the local businesses whilst work is underway. The shops will all be open, the garage will still be selling fuel and fixing cars, the restaurants will still be welcoming you – and don’t forget that the Queens Oak serves a great pint! Now’s the time to show how much we care about our village by making that extra effort to spend our money locally!
With proposals announced for the new schools, the Solar Farm and a couple of housing sites, Councillor David Cornish is working hard with Planning and Highways teams at Wokingham Borough Council (and with other local councillors) to ensure that disruption will be minimised and that a proper plan is in place for how Barkham Ride will cope with
increases in traffic.
After years of gridlocked discussions, the Lib Dems have finally brought about an agreement between Wokingham Borough Council and the Bohunt Trust to expand the school,
delivering both extra year 7 places and the long-awaited sixth-form facility. In these tough financial times, contributing over £5m was a big challenge for Wokingham Borough Council but the Lib Dems have insisted that commitments made to parents are honoured.
The Gorse Ride Regeneration scheme is a project that all of Finchampstead can be proud of. In December, there was a ‘topping out’ ceremony to mark the latest stage in the redevelopment and the hard work of the local Tenants & Landlord Improvement Panel has won a national award. This is our community at its best and a big ‘Well Done’ to all of the residents involved.
Our key commitment in 2022 was to prevent 270 houses from being built on Rooks Nest Farm. We’re delighted to say that instead of houses, the planting of the new Covid Memorial Wood will start next Spring.
Local Lib Dem councillors have given full support to the parish council in their project to reconfigure the old war memorial junction. This has been a potential accident blackspot for
years and the Lib Dems controlled Wokingham Borough Council give the parish council their full support.
At the next general election, people in Finchampstead will be voting as part of the Wokingham constituency, not Bracknell Forest. This national realignment of parliamentary constituencies is good news for all of us who had never felt part of Bracknell. It means that we will have the chance to vote for Clive Jones as the Lib Dem candidate for Wokingham and to remove John Redwood, the current Wokingham MP, who has taken the area for granted for far too long.
After many years of false starts, agreement has finally been reached on expansion plans for Bohunt school. The council and the trust have agreed on funding a new extension which will provide new sixth-form accommodation, more places for Years 7-11 and better facilities for children with special educational needs. Councillor David Cornish says, “I’m delighted that Wokingham Borough Council and the Trust have now found the money to deliver this great outcome, for which parents and children have waited so long”.
After an 89% ‘Yes’ vote in the recent referendum, the Finchampstead Neighbourhood Plan has been formally adopted by Wokingham Borough Council. Planning Applications in the parish will now be assessed against Finchampstead’s policies, as well as those of the Borough council. The Plan will also provide significant extra protection for Finchampstead at a time when borough housing targets are under question. A big ‘Thank you’ to the non-political community team who worked so hard to pull the Plan together on behalf of us all.
The location plan for the new schools at Rook’s Nest Farm has another unexpected upside in that even more of this valuable site will be made available for community use,
in addition to the Covid Memorial Wood planned for the area of the farm adjacent to California Country Park. Ideas for this extra space include a further extension to the memorial wood, space for allotments, a community orchard, or possibly some community sports space. A decision on these alternatives will be made once the layout for the school site has been finalised. Local councillor David Cornish says, “Two years ago, we were aghast at plans for 270 houses on the site. This is a much better outcome.”
The cause of the delay to the Bohunt Sixth Form has been the way rampant inflation has almost doubled the cost of the project. The previous administration had agreed a budget of £5,700,000 but the latest estimates are for a real total of £10,500,000! The Lib Dems have promised to deliver the Sixth Form but finding that extra money isn’t easy. Bohunt and Wokingham Borough Council have now both committed extra funding and are working together to find the best way forward, with a number of options being assessed. The complex work on evaluating these should be completed this Autumn and a sixth form option in place for September 2024.
Wokingham Borough Council have now agreed a contract for the refurbishment of California Crossroads, due to start in the Summer of 2024. Lib Dem councillors have been working with the Highways team to make sure that residents’ concerns have been heard. As a result, the parking bays in front of the shops are back in their current position, lthough with a new entrance. The project is being funded by developers, not by money from Wokingham Borough Council. Councillor David Cornish says, “I was never the greatest fan of this scheme, but it’s developers’ money, we’ve all had our say, and now it’s time to end the months of debate and delay and just get the job done.
“Of course, there will be disruption while the work is being done but I’m confident that the plan will revitalise a key part of Finchampstead.”
The video below shows a similar scheme in Poynton.
Our road network is in crisis. Across the country, and also in Wokingham, underfunding from government over more than a decade has left local roads beyond their planned life and vulnerable to serious deterioration.
Firstly I'd like to say a huge thank you to the people of Wokingham who have put their trust in me and elected me to represent you in parliament as the first ever Liberal Democrat MP for Wokingham
Stephen Conway's interview with the local paper.
As the local elections draw near, it is a good time to reflect on some of the good things that the council has achieved over the last two years under Lib Dem leadership.
All my working life was spent communicating with the public (or ‘customers’!) in an open and honest way and I find myself at a loss to understand why politics needs to be different.
This means that, in addition to generating enough green renewable energy to power thousands of homes, Barkham Solar Farm will also generate an income of circa £2.74 million a year, which can be used to help fund essential services.
Our volunteer deliverers are the backbone of our campaign. Thank you if you can help!
