Library Update
The considerable amount of work – much of it invisible to anyone not involved in the discussions – on securing the future of the library in Hungerford is close to reaching a successful conclusion. The charity to administer it has been set up, the 99-year lease has been agreed with West Berkshire Council, the trustees have been appointed and a number of possibilities for the future expansion of the services the library building can provide have been identified.
It’s hoped that the final agreements will be signed in the near future. A formal announcement will be made as soon as possible thereafter.
Post Office Update
In late July it was announced that WHS would be taking over the old Martin’s store in the High Street, hopefully in September, and the signs were that they would also reinstate the Post Office counter there. This has yet to be confirmed.
The outreach Post Office is operating in the library building. It’s open Tuesdays and Fridays from 9.45am to 1.45pm and Wednesdays from 9.30am to 1.30pm.
Hungerford in Bloom
Please click here to see a list of those who won and were commended in the various categories. Thanks to all of those who took part.
Neighbourhood Plan
Following the meeting on the subject in May, HTC is continuing to look into the issues surrounding the adoption of a neighbourhood plan for Hungerford. The intention is still that a further meeting will be arranged, probably in September, at which the matter can be discussed again and, hopefully, a decision reached as to whether or not to proceed. Further information will be made available in Penny Post and elsewhere as soon as it’s available.
If you are interested in finding out more about neighbourhood plans, the following websites provide more information: My Community; Forum for Neighbourhood Planning; Planning Aid; Locality; The Department for Communities and Local Government; and West Berkshire’s own site.
The Hungerford Business Showcase
A reminder that this event will be taking place on 13 October at John O’Gaunt and will be an opportunity for businesses and potential employees in the town to meet find out more about what they can offer each other. Many organisations have already been contacted: if for any reason you haven’t been and would like to find out more, please get in touch with the Council at [email protected]. Further information will be made available in Penny Post and elsewhere as soon as it’s available.
Hungerford Town Council Grants Award Ceremony
Each year, HTC makes a number of grants to various groups in and around the town to help them continue their valuable work. On Saturday 1 July, an event was held at the Croft Hall at which representatives of these groups were presented with confirmation of their funding for 2017-18 and invited to say a few words about their activities. For more on this, please click here. Since this event, the total grants made by HTC has increased to £15,800.
Extraordinary General Meeting of the Hungerford Town Council
This will take place at 7pm on Monday 7 August in the Hungerford Corn Exchange. Members of the public are welcome to attend. One item on the agenda will be a report on the current situation regarding the judicial review.
Anti-social behaviour
One of the issues discussed at the Hungerford Town Council Meeting on 3 July was the problem of anti-social behaviour in the skate park in Bulpit Lane. Some local residents attended the meeting and described some the disquieting things they’d seen and heard there, often late at night. Representatives of the Thames Valley Police were also present and noted the comments. A subsequent meeting was arranged at the Football Club at 7.30pm on Monday 17 July attended by local residents, several town councillors and representatives of the police.
Various solutions were proposed including installing a CCTV camera, increasing the police presence and initiating a Neighbourhood Watch scheme. If you see or think anything suspicious going on, please report the matter by calling 101 (or 999 if a crime is actually taking place). Please ensure that that you are given a crime number as this will ensure that the report is logged and included in the statistics.
You can find out more about the Neighbourhood Watch scheme – including details of two events on 2 and 5 August – by clicking here.
The sections above cover some of the issues with which Hungerford Town Council has recently been involved or concerned: it by no means describes all of the Council’s activities.
For more information on Hungerford Town Council, please click here.
If there’s anything that you’d like to see covered in this way in future editions of Penny Post Hungerford, please email [email protected]. Any such suggestions should be received at least four working days before the end of the month (and preferably sooner) if they are to be included in the corresponding post for the following month. That is not, of course, to say that the Council will not in any case give the matter its attention and respond personally if appropriate.
This information has been compiled by Penny Post from information supplied by Hungerford Town Council and others. Links have been provided to other posts, on the Penny Post site or elsewhere, to provide additional information where this has been judged necessary. The presence of such a link should not be taken to imply that Hungerford Town Council necessarily agrees with, endorses or supports any of the material contained therein.
