Having had the summer recess in August, followed by a holiday in September, it seems a long time since I reported on a Parish Council meeting; thank you, Lauraine for covering for me last month!

The October meeting began with the co-option of a new councillor to replace Lynn Vass.  We had two excellent candidates, Stephen Bromley and Kevin Mayne, but, sadly, only one vacancy and Kevin was asked to join the Council.  However, Parish Council elections will be held in May, so we would encourage Stephen, and anyone else who would like to be a Parish Councillor, to put their names forward then.

Louise Morris, the Village Youth Project Leader, reported on activities during the summer at Gorse Ride.  She also drew attention to the campaign, led by local 10 year old Tom Savage, to get funding for a skateboard park in Finchampstead.  Funds are available, and Sonning has just installed some ramps which Councillors are being encouraged to look at.  Where should it go?  That is the big question, and the new Baptist Church/Community Centre could be the answer if there is enough space.

Negotiations between Finchampstead Baptist Church and Wokingham Borough Council are still on-going as reported last month, and one wonders why a Council, which was so keen for this project to go ahead, now appears to be putting obstacles in the way of its progress.

Councillor Newcombe, chairman of the Planning Committee, reported that permission for the proposed development of 14 dwellings at 61-67 Kiln Ride has now been won on appeal.  The Parish Council was dismayed by this news as Wokingham Borough Council presented ten valid reasons as to why this development should not go ahead, but these were overruled by the Inspector.

On a much more cheerful note, the Council was delighted to welcome Chris Francis and three other Finchampstead Guides, who have recently visited Brazil as part of a group of 20 Guides, mainly from Berkshire, and led by Chris.  There they met with Brazilian Guides (even making them tea with scones and jam!), visited the confluence of the Amazon and Negro rivers, went into the rainforest area and had many more adventures, but the main purpose of the visit was to help at the World Vision village of Fortaleza, a project which the Finchampstead Guides have supported for many years.  Here the Guides did much to enhance the lives of the children, many of whom are orphans.  They took money to buy equipment, toys, books and pencils, played games with the children and took part in many other activities.  They even took packets of trifle mix to give the children an “English” treat.  Chris wasn’t sure that they liked it!  The Parish Council had made a donation for the trip, which was used to provide interpreters and transport.  The Parish Council was full of admiration for what had been achieved by the Guides and by Chris in particular, who had planned and researched the visit.

You may like to note:-

Fuel allotment – Please phone the Parish office if you know of a long-term elderly resident of Finchampstead who would benefit from a £20 donation at Christmas.

The refuse lorry is at Avery’s Corner car park on every third Saturday of the month from 8 to 11 am.

Veteran Tree Project – Meeting at Dinton Pastures 10^th November. Please phone Councillor Gordon Veitch (01252 877383) if you are interested in this project.

Welcome packs for new residents – These are available from both Doctors’ Surgeries.  If you have new neighbours, please let them know about the packs.  You may also like to encourage your neighbours, old and new, to buy the Finchampstead Magazine.  As regular readers know it is an excellent way of finding out what’s happening in our Parish.  It is packed full of information, so why not buy an extra copy next month and pass it on!

Cllr Chris Driver

The date this page was last altered was January 20, 2008.

Copyright © 2003 Finchampstead Parish Council