Action in Spencers Wood and Swallowfield

We congratulate Swallowfield Parish Council and all who objected to the development off Trowes Lane. This has been rejected by Wokingham Borough Council’s Planning  committee, on sustainability grounds: lack of transport, schools, and retail. But news of a possible 500 houses on land to the east of Basingstoke Road in Spencers Wood has met fierce opposition. The good news is that the AWE and MOD succeeded in having a planning application appeal in Burghfield Common overturned in the High Court. Here, West Berkshire had refused permission as the site was in the DEPZ (Detailed Emergency Planning Zone), but the developers had appealed to the Planning Inspectorate, who overturned that refusal. The application has now been blocked. We look forward to hearing more about this, but the DEPZ might be of some use to us after all.

Adequate school provision

Lib Dems are acutely aware of the shortfall in school places in Spencers Wood and Swallowfield and the many problems this creates. We would welcome any details of your own recent experiences in securing places for your children, to add to what we have learnt through Freedom of Information requests. Meanwhile we have asked for information about the current round of primary school applications. This is important forward planning for the future of our communities. We appreciate that new schools cannot just be built. But we are delighted that the old Farley Hill School buildings have been revived as the Addington Early Years Centre, one of two new schools for children with special educational needs opened recently in the Borough.

Completing the Hyde End Lane footpath

Following pressure from the Liberal Democrat councillors and Shinfield Parish Council, we are fairly confident that things are moving ahead on the completion of the footpath parallel to Hyde End Lane. Watch this space!

Supporting our Volunteers

We’d like to state our support for both the Tuesday Lunch Club at Spring Gardens and the Thursday Coffee Morning at Spencers Wood Pavilion. For different reasons both have felt under pressure in recent weeks. We see both as vital services reflecting the best of our communities.

Liberal Democrats value the voluntary sector as a great strength and asset to us all.

Hyde End Lane

Your Lib Dem councillors are pressing Wokingham Borough Council officers to complete the footpath alongside Hyde End Lane, so that pedestrians can walk its length
in safety. Completion of the path is caught up in the school development that may or may not happen. But we say this footpath is needed now, not at some time in the distant future.
And, mentioning schools, we are also working with the Council on a new school strategy for Shinfield and Swallowfield. There are not enough local school places at any level, resulting in more car and bus journeys for children.

Car meets

Local Lib Dems are pleased to hear that Thames Valley Police Neighbourhood are now working with Wokingham Borough Council to reduce the nuisance caused by car meets at Mereoak Park and Ride. Most of the 250 participants at the meet welcomed the officers, but 59 warnings and fixed penalty notices were issued to people driving in an anti-social manner, and over 300 drivers on the 40mph stretch of the A33 were issued with speeding tickets that day.

Swallowfield Show

For the second year running we took the Lib Dem gazebo to Swallowfield on August Bank Holiday. We much enjoyed talking to people – supporters and opponents alike – and running a coconut shy, which attracted a great deal of attention from both young and old. Our lips are sealed as to which political figure had the most balls thrown at them, but a Ukrainian guest took especial pleasure in knocking Putin off his perch!

30 mph speed limit

At long last Wokingham Borough Council has listened to you and proposed a 30mph limit on Basingstoke Road from Three Mile Cross to Back Lane, Beech Hill Road, and
most of Hyde End Road. Your Lib Dems entirely welcome this and are calling for more traffic calming measures on roads within the parishes.

Opposing over-development

Lib Dems have objected to planning applications in both Trowes Lane (Swallowfield) and Church Lane (Three Mile Cross). We need to ensure that any new developments are accompanied by suitable infrastructure such as road improvements, school provision, and provide low-cost housing and carbon-neutral

Demand for school buses

Lib Dems have been closely following the travel problems faced by some secondary school children. Wokingham Borough Council runs buses for children entitled to free school transport, and sells the surplus places to fare-paying children. There are now so many children who have chosen to go to schools outside the area that some have been left without
seats. The Council has been working hard to ensure that they all have a means to get to school. To solve this problem local Lib Dems are pressing for better local school provision.