Finchampstead Parish Council met on 20^th April at 7.30 pm in the Memorial Hall, Finchampstead.  As mentioned in last month’s magazine, all Main Council meetings now take place on the third Thursday of each month at the memorial Hall.  Committee meetings, however, will continue to be held at California Ratepayers’ Hall and will start at 8.0 pm, except for Roads & Road Safety, which begins at 7.30 pm.  Parish Council notice boards display details of all meetings and parishioners are welcome to attend.

Following the resignation of Ian Hossack and, sadly, the continuing illness of Bert Vile, the Parish Council co-opted two new Councillors, Sharon Hall, who has had connections with this area for many years, and Jim May, who was born in Finchampstead over 50 years ago.  Both have a great deal to offer, and the Parish Council is delighted to have them on board.

The March Parish Council meeting was addressed by Ian Pittock and a group of residents who actively support the provision of a secondary school to the south of Wokingham District, possibly within Finchampstead Parish.  The Parish Council set up a Working Group to consider this matter, which has many implications, not only for parents of school-age children, but for the whole community.  The Working Group’s report was presented at the meeting, and included the following observations:-

•  Effect on housing, traffic and infrastructure
•  Changes to the character of the area
•  The need for Wokingham DC to consult with all residents
•  Whilst there may be support for a new school, the final answer will depend upon its location (not known at present), the complete proposal and the consultation process.

Councillor Geoff Markham reported that, after considerable research, it was felt that the cost of putting on a picnic concert to celebrate the Queen’s birthday was prohibitively high, and that, therefore, the idea has had to be abandoned.

The Planning Committee had met three times since the last Main Council meeting.  The Thames Basin Heath legislation has effectively put a stop to any development within the Parish other than one-for-one replacement of dwellings.  This is because Finchampstead is close to a specially protected area containing rare wild birds, and over-development threatens their welfare and habitat.  One could say that about human residents, too!  However, developers never give up, and the Parish Council was dismayed to receive a planning application to demolish 347 Finchampstead Road and replace it with eight two-bedroomed apartments.  If you are affected by this proposed development, please write or e-mail to Wokingham District Council with your comments and copy them to Finchampstead Parish Council.

Councillor Lynn Vass attended the Multi-Agency meeting at Gorse Ride and reported very positively.  Claire Denham has been appointed by Wokingham DC as a Community Worker and 17 Billing Avenue has been allocated as a community house, from which she will work.  Adult learning will take place there.  Young people have been involved in a Clean-up Project, and are painting the Youth Room.  The Multi-Agency involvement in the Gorse Ride area is enabling some excellent community action to develop, which the Parish Council is keen to support.

The next Parish Council meeting will be on Thursday, 18^th May at Finchampstead Memorial Hall and will be reported upon by Councillor Lauraine Newcombe.

Cllr Chris Driver

The date this page was last altered was March 11, 2007.

Copyright © 2003 Finchampstead Parish Council