Our usual round-up of Burghfield area news includes a green space in Theale, Basingstoke’s local plan, Mortimer’s annual parish meeting and more kerbside plastic recycling – plus grants, eggs, a pop-up pub, family history and a call for sites. See also below for community notices and news from your local council.

Upcoming Burghfield area events include Burghfield Pop-up Pub and Mortimer Easter Egg Trail. See below for details, plus regular events and group activities.

• A green space at Ochre Meadows in Theale

A community green space for residents of new homes being developed by house builders Croudace Homes has been officially opened at Ochre Meadows in Theale.

• More kerbside plastic recycling

West Berkshire Council has announced that plastic tubes can now be recycled from home as part of the regular kerbside collections. “This includes all toothpaste tubes both hard and flexible, cosmetic tubes and food tubes” a statement from the Council explains, including the tubes used for “herb pastes, cake-icing tubes, hand creams and moisturisers. – if it is hard or soft plastic and tube-shaped it can recycled.”

Residents are asked to squeeze out any remaining content, put the cap on (which can be recycled too), leave flat (these are easier to deal with at the recycling centre) and put in your green bag along with your cans, plastic bottles, tubs and trays.

The next ambition is to deal with soft plastic at the kerbside. WBC needs first to upgrade its facilities at Padworth. The government has mandated that this start in 2027 but is declining to contribute any money to help meet the costs. Until that happens, most supermarkets will accept soft plastic.

• Other news

• The latest newsletter from Burghfield and Mortimer ward member Nick Carter can be read here.

• Latest local newsletters

• Englefield Parish Magazine.
• w Village Newsletter.
• Stratfield Mortimer Newsletter.
• Benefice of Aldermaston and Woolhampton
• Mortimer Village Partnership.

Our usual round-up of Burghfield area news includes solar-farm updates and a photo competition – plus grants, Easter, football, music, beer and a call for sites. See also below for community notices and news from your local council.

Upcoming Burghfield area events include Easter Fun in Aldermaston, Theale & Bradfield Southend. See below for details, plus regular events and group activities.

• Another solar farm near Grazeley

We mentioned last week about the two solar farms planned near Grazeley – one a new scheme proposed by One Planet, the other a long-nurtured scheme of West Berkshire Council’s.

Regarding the latter, I mentioned that, contrary to what you might have read elsewhere, the scheme has not been canned but is currently being reviewed. The hope was that an announcement would be made by the end of next month. It now seems that we may have to wait a little longer for this while the “complex business case” is re-examined.

As I suggested last week, with the government watching how the money it’s loaned WBC is spent, prudent and defensible decisions must be taken. It’s also important that the Council doesn’t over-think things – this is a forty-year project, there are going to be many changes in circumstances. What seems unlikely to alter, though, is the need for increased energy security which this scheme – indeed, both of them – can help provide.

The clock’s also ticking as regard the connection to the grid, no small matter with such projects. I understand that if WBC doesn’t confirm the scheme within the next few months, the arrangements that have been made for this might lapse.

• Photos in Mortimer

There’s still time to enter Stratfield Mortimer Parish Council’s Spirit of Mortimer photography competition which invites you to “capture what makes our village special — its people, places, landscapes, wildlife and everyday moments.” There are four age groups covering children and adults, with prizes for the winners and the ultimate accolade that a selection of these will be featured in the 2027 community calendar.

For more information, please click here.

• Other news

• The latest newsletter from Burghfield and Mortimer ward member Nick Carter can be read here.

• Latest local newsletters

• Englefield Parish Magazine.
• Padworth Village Newsletter.
• Stratfield Mortimer Newsletter.
• Benefice of Aldermaston and Woolhampton
• Mortimer Village Partnership.

Our usual round-up of Burghfield area news includes not one but two solar farms near Grazeley, litter, soil, beer, music, sporting careers, community grants, local government reorganisation and a call for sites. See also below for community notices and news from your local council.

Upcoming Burghfield area events include Burghfield Charity Dress Sale & Theale Community Litter Pick. See below for details, plus regular events and group activities.

• Another solar farm near Grazeley

Seeing the words “solar farm” and “Grazeley” in the same article, as I recently did, made me think of WBC’s project: on which more below. The recently announced scheme, however, is a private one. It’s currently at pre-application stage but the proposers, One Planet, have uploaded some documents and are inviting comments on the project which will, if completed as currently envisaged, produce enough energy for 17,000 homes. Click here for more information.

Going back to WBC’s scheme, this has not (contrary to what you may have read elsewhere) been canned. The portfolio holder told me on 19 March that the project’s business case is being reviewed, partly because of changes to the long-term energy-price forecast and partly because of the rise in interest rates. The capital provision of about £18m is still in the budget, carried forward from last year. Two obstacles, the connection arrangements and the planning permission, have been sorted. An announcement is expected before the end of April.

This project was originally conceived back in 2020 when the expansion of the DEPZ made the land at Grazeley unsuitable for the mega-development that had been planned there (which also led to the NE Thatcham sites being allocated for additional housing to help plug the gap). The site therefore became available for uses other than housing and, WBC having recently declared a climate emergency, the solar farm idea was born.

Six years seems like a long time – indeed, it is a long time. It’s true there’s been a pandemic, several wars and several savage bouts of inflation since then: however these, coupled with the ever-growing need to decarbonise the grid, surely have made this even more of a no-brainer than it was then.

WBC could be accused of an excess of caution. However, one only has to look at Thurrock to see what can disasters can ensue if an investment in a solar project is jumped into without adequate thought. Think too long, however, and the circumstances change again, requiring the review to be re-started. This is a forty-year project so there’s no way we can predict what all the circumstances will be or mitigate all the risks. So, WBC really needs to jump into the pool…

The Council’s caution is probably also due to Whitehall watching closely: the government is effectively funding the project in the short term through exceptional financial support or a PWLB loan and it doesn’t want to end up with another Thurrock-style disaster on its hands.

Hopefully, WBC can get this due diligence completed and crack on as soon as possible. The circumstances that gave rise to the idea six years ago apply more than ever. Moreover, if this isn’t built, and quite soon, there’s no chance of WBC hitting its 2030 decarbonisation target.

Finally, it’s important to remember that solar farms are temporary and require no demolition or site clearance. At the end of the project the panels can be removed and the land returned to its previous use (probably in an improved condition) to an extent impossible with a development involving foundations and hardstanding.

Given that, one wonders whether the planning system, which generally deals with permanent structures that often require mitigation, is a suitable method for deciding solar farms. This can easily add a year onto the process. Given that we badly need them and that they leave no permanent footprint, might some more rapid system be more appropriate, with a pre-disposition in favour?

• Other news

• The latest newsletter from Burghfield and Mortimer ward member Nick Carter can be read here.

• Latest local newsletters

• Englefield Parish Magazine.
• Padworth Village Newsletter.
• Stratfield Mortimer Newsletter.
• Benefice of Aldermaston and Woolhampton
• Mortimer Village Partnership.

Our usual round-up of Burghfield area news includes the future of Burghfest, a communite café beer and music, a call for sites, a newsletter, sporting champions and community grants. See also below for community notices and news from your local council.

Upcoming Burghfield area events include Burghfield Santas Pop-Up Pub and Burghfield Easter Community Cafe. See below for details, plus regular events and group activities.

• This week’s news

• Penny Post’s second volume of short stories and parodies by Brian Quinn, Gravity and Rust, is available from any bookshop, including the Hungerford Bookshop, the White Horse Bookshop in Marlborough and the Wantage Bookshop. Click here for more information.

• The latest newsletter from Burghfield and Mortimer ward member Nick Carter can be read here.

• Latest local newsletters

• Englefield Parish Magazine.
• Padworth Village Newsletter.
• Stratfield Mortimer Newsletter.
• Benefice of Aldermaston and Woolhampton
• Mortimer Village Partnership.

Our usual round-up of Burghfield area news includes sewage in Stanford Dingley, ARK takes a look at some dirty water business, a long-awaited application in Mortimer and a lang-grab reminder – plus jumble, a fundraiser, a pop-up, a newsletter, sports, tea, cakes and community grants. See also below for community notices and news from your local council.

Upcoming Burghfield area events include Cancer Fundraiser in Burghfield and Padworth Jumble Sale. See below for details, plus regular events and group activities.

• Stanford Dingley’s sewage

This will come as no surprise to residents of the village but the area has for some time been suffering recurring problems with some manholes leaking sewage onto roads and properties at times of high groundwater. This is caused by the system getting overwhelmed (from cracked pipes, broken joints or ingress through the same manholes out of which the sewage then gushes).

I can sympathise with this problem as here in the upper Lambourn valley we had exactly the same problem for the same reason/s. Thames Water has done a good del of work round here in the last couple of years although it’s only recently that groundwater levels have been high enough to provide a stern test. So far, the system round here seems to be just about coping, though help is needed from two ATAC filtration units.

Thames Water also did some work in Stanford Dingley, including relining about a mile of pipes. The problems persist, however. Recent research by the Pang Valley Flood Forum has suggested that more work needs to be done elsewhere. It seems that the outflows in the village contain sand which is, in the area, only found in a few miles away in Frilsham. Closer examination there apparently reveals evidence of a badly damaged pipe. I presume that Thames Water is acting on this information.

In a recent (20 February) post, however, local Olivia Bailey seems rather to doubt this. “It is clear from the stories told in [a BBC article] and my own conversations with residents that local people do not feel like Thames Water is listening to them or acting with the necessary urgency. That’s why I wrote to the Chief Executive of Thames Water last week, urging him to take responsibility, properly communicate with residents, and clean up his mess.

Obviously it’s great when MP’s wade into a issue and rattle a few cages. While good for a quick bit of high-profile barking, MPs attentions can only rest with any one issue for so long. The hard listing in such cases is being done by the local groups which have been set up to tap Thames Water on the shoulder on a more regular basis. So, hats off to groups like SAGLUV and the Lambourn Valley Flood Forum in our neck of the woods and the Pang Valley Flood Forum to the east.

It’s a shame that Thames Water needs to have such groups snapping at its heels but, given that it clearly does, it’s very good that they exist. Keep up the good work.

On which theme…

• Dirty business

Channel 4′ s recent hard hitting docu-drama Dirty Business will have confirmed what most of us know, and many of us have experienced first hand, about the failure to protect our rivers from sewage pollution and the devastating consequence for both wildlife and people. Marlborough-based Action for the River Kennet has been highlighting this issue for more than twenty years.

A statement from ARK pointed out that Windrush Against Sewage Pollution’s rigorous analysis of illegal sewage discharges, showcased in  Dirty Business, ranks the Pang as the most “victimised” river in Thames Water’s region – and there are quite a few to choose from – with the worst offending works being at Hampstead Norreys.

“On the SAC-protected River Lambourn,” ARK’s statement continues, “where the works at East Shefford have been upgraded, illegal spills have still occurred. WASP’s analysis raises some serious questions about the sewage treatment standards.”

Nor does the Kennet get a clean bill of health, being ranked tenth in terms of rivers suffering most from illegal spills. To pick one example, the works at Kingsclere discharged into to the Kingsclere Brook illegally on 165 occasions between 2020 and 2025. Most people who’d committed 165 crimes in five years would be locked up – and that’s just one sewage works. WASP estimated that TW’s charge sheet for this period contains a staggering 8,499 separate incidents.

“The programme highlighted the fact that our rivers aren’t safe for recreation and would not reliably meet bathing-water standards because of the concentration of E.Coli and Total Coliforms present.

“Communities including Aldbourne and Stanford Dingley still paddle through sewage on a daily basis in winter and the impacts are not recorded in any figures. We need rapid investment in sewage treatment that is fit for purpose combined with strong regulation.”

You can add your voice to the call for clean water now on this page on the Rivers Trust website.

• Tower Farm/Redwoods in Mortimer

The following is taken from Councillor Nick Carter’s latest newsletter, which you can read here.

“A long-anticipated proposal, identified through the Mortimer Neighbourhood Plan process, has just reached the planning application stage, with plans submitted to West Berkshire Council last month. To see the details, click here and enter the reference 25/02941/FULMAJ.

“The site, at ‘Tower Farm’, was originally set aside in 2017 for a possible new school and NHS doctors’ surgery. Following further work, a Neighbourhood Plan steering group-led engagement exercise in 2022, identified a ‘preferred option’ for it. This proposed repurposing the land for: school outdoor sports and play facilities; school parking,  space for a possible doctors’ surgery; a relocated Oaktree private dental practice; and about 20 retirement homes.

“Subsequently, Mortimer Surgery confirmed that it would not take up the option to relocate/expand onto that site and so that allocation was removed from the plan.

“The plan sees the school sports and play areas located directly adjacent to the existing school,  as more practical than if the land were separated from it by the property. The plan includes the demolition of that property.

“Under the plans, the residential element, now 32 properties,  with a pavilion,  aimed at over-55s,  sits to the south of the new school facilities, and is intended partly to fund the purchase and demolition of Redwoods, and partly to contribute to local housing supply. The application has no affordable housing element, apparently owing to commercial viability issues.”

• Land grab reminder

As we mentioned last week (see below), Reading Council remains strongly of the opinion that it should annexe Tilehurst. As we’ve reported over the last few months, its ambitions previously included Theale, Pangbourne and Purley though all of these seem to have beaten back, largely due to the residents’ evident distaste for the idea. As a glance at the map will show, however, Tilehurst is perhaps a more rational ambition.

If you scroll down to last week’s column, you can see our thoughts on how this might all play out, as well the suggestion that – despite their public differences – Reading and West Berkshire Councils may actually be more aligned on this issue than first appears.

• Other news

• Penny Post’s second volume of short stories and parodies by Brian Quinn, Gravity and Rust, is available from any bookshop, including the Hungerford Bookshop, the White Horse Bookshop in Marlborough and the Wantage Bookshop. Click here for more information.

• The latest newsletter from Burghfield and Mortimer ward member Nick Carter can be read here.

• Latest local newsletters

• Englefield Parish Magazine.
• Padworth Village Newsletter.
• Stratfield Mortimer Newsletter.
• Benefice of Aldermaston and Woolhampton
• Mortimer Village Partnership.

Our usual round-up of Burghfield area news includes A look at the possible next steps with Reading’s land-grab and Stratfield Mortimer PC’s most recent newsletter – plus 39 steps, a fundraiser, allotment plots, tea, cakes, wellbeing and community grants. See also below for community notices and news from your local council.

Upcoming Burghfield area events include World Book Day fun in Theale and Cancer Fundraiser in Burghfield. See below for details, plus regular events and group activities.

• The land grab

Reading Council remains strongly of the opinion that it should annexe Tilehurst. As we’ve reported over the last few months, its ambitions previously included Theale, Pangbourne and Purley though all of these seem to have beaten back, largely due to the residents’ evident distaste for the idea. As a glance at the map will show, however, Tilehurst is perhaps a more rational ambition.

In pursuit of this goal, Reading Council has launched a consultation on the subject, which you can read here. This is headlined, as previous communications on this topic have been, with the message that it’s restating its case “that all of Tilehurst should remain in Berkshire.” As the Ridgeway Council proposal to which this refers would not remove Tilehurst from Berkshire, this is a piece of gratuitous polemic. In any case, “Berkshire” is now a purely ceremonial entity with no administrative functions. None the less, it’s clearly been designed as a rallying cry to win support.

Reading has said that if the Ridgeway plan is approved, it will approach the government to formalise its claim. If it isn’t, then it won’t. As Reading wants Tilehurst and WBC wants Ridgeway, the two councils’ interests are compatible. If Reading’s leadership has the ear of any of their fellow Labour politicians in SW1, it’s therefore possible it’s being suggested that to approve both proposals would suit everyone’s wishes.

Labour is never going to win more than a few seats in either West Berkshire or Ridgeway so it might just as well not bother with trying too hard. For the same reason, it – and so perhaps also the government – is probably unwilling to merge with West Berkshire, which might be demanded if Ridgeway didn’t happen.

As well as introducing the unwelcome spectre of Lib Dem and Conservative members into the chamber, I also doubt that Reading would see West Berkshire as being a logical addition to its portfolio (Wokingham is probably another matter). It may well sees West Berkshire as a mysterious place full of small villages, horse-racing yards, nuclear arms sites and complex National Landscape regulations, none of which it probably has any interest in grappling with.

We shall see how all this pans out. The government’s decision on the proposals is expected to be announced in the summer. If residents of Tilehurst have a view on the matter they need to make these plain in the consultation and to their current WBC ward members. As suggested above, though, the decision may be made for wider reasons of politics and convenience rather than the specific wishes of the residents. None the less, you should still make it clear what those wishes are.

• Stratfield Mortimer’s newsletter

The February 2026 News Bulletin from Stratfield Mortimer Parish Council has just been published and you can click here to read it.

Matters covered include a photography competition; the 2026 Community Awards; the Annual Parish Meeting on 27 April; a planning application at Tower gardens; the Neighbourhood Plan; an update from the Basingstoke and Deane Local Plan Steering Group; and local speeding statistics.

• Other news

• Penny Post’s second volume of short stories and parodies by Brian Quinn, Gravity and Rust, is available from any bookshop, including the Hungerford Bookshop, the White Horse Bookshop in Marlborough and the Wantage Bookshop. Click here for more information.

• The latest newsletter from Burghfield and Mortimer ward member Nick Carter can be read here.

• Latest local newsletters

• Englefield Parish Magazine.
• Padworth Village Newsletter.
• Stratfield Mortimer Newsletter.
• Benefice of Aldermaston and Woolhampton
• Mortimer Village Partnership.

Our usual round-up of Burghfield area news includes AWE buys a historic estate and Aldermaston’s traveller’s site – plus allotments, grants, a quiz, whist, volunteers and a council consultation. See also below for community notices and news from your local council.

Upcoming Burghfield area events include Burghfield Quiz Drive & The 39 Steps dinner theatre in Aldermaston. See below for details, plus regular events and group activities.

• Aldermaston’s purchase

AWE has announced that it’s bought Aldermaston Park: or, as a statement puts it, has “become the guardian of the historic” 139-acre estate. This goes on to explain that that Park “had a role in the UK’s defence and scientific story long before AWE was established, from supporting military aviation during the Second World War to pioneering research.”

It then adds that “this investment is a further demonstration of the Government’s commitment to the nuclear deterrent.” I can see how it adds to the MoD’s property portfolio and the AWE’s general sense of gloire: but, unless the estate’s greenhouses are going to be turned into secret laboratories or test missiles launched from the attic windows, I can’t see how this improves our deterrent. Mind you, that’s what AWE has said and I’m not going rot argue with an organisation that’s got a lot more nuclear weapons that I do.

The statement goes on to say that “the purchase gives us greater control of our boundary,” A pity, therefore that AWE wasn’t able also to buy the land near its main gates on which there’s been an unauthorised encampment for the last few months.

• Other news

• Penny Post’s second volume of short stories and parodies by Brian Quinn, Gravity and Rust, is now available from any bookshop, including the Hungerford Bookshop, the White Horse Bookshop in Marlborough and the Wantage Bookshop. Click here for more information.

• The latest newsletter from Burghfield and Mortimer ward member Nick Carter can be read here.

• From Monday 16 February, Theale Library is celebrating Viking Week, with a range of fun and creative Norse-inspired activities. Including crafts, puzzles, challenges, storytimes and more. Click here for details.

• Englefield Parish Magazine.
• Padworth Village Newsletter.
• Stratfield Mortimer Newsletter.
• Benefice of Aldermaston and Woolhampton
• Mortimer Village Partnership.

Our usual round-up of Burghfield area news includes the pause continues in Stratfield Mortimer, community grant applications open in Theale and local-council reorganisation – plus walking, talking, drama, drivers, birds and a library. See also below for community notices and news from your local council.

Upcoming Burghfield area events include Theale’s Viking Week & Burghfield Whist Drive. See below for details, plus regular events and group activities.

• Stratfield Mortimer’s campaign

We reported a couple of weeks ago (see below) that matters in the campaign spearheaded by Stratfield Mortimer Parish Council to oppose Basingstoke & Dene’s plans to allocate a large site right on the district boundary has reached a definite pause. I can confirm that this is still the case. It seems that Basingstoke & Deane’s officers are still wading through the thousands of comments which have been made on the plan. I understand that 800+ (and counting) concern this one policy so and work that has arisen from this proposal could be seen as self-inflicted.

Once all that’s done, the next stage will be the Regulation 19 stage when the plan is published and submitted to the government for examination by a planning inspector. What weight they will attached to the number and nature of these comments remains to be seen. One possibility is that it’s felt that this site and perhaps others are unsound but that to remove would compromise the plan so badly that it needs to be thrown out. This would be good neither for Stratfield Mortimer nor B&D as it would led to something of a developers’ free-for-all with speculative applications, perhaps including at this site, succeeding on appeal because there was no up-to-date plan to provide the policies.

The Inspector may decide that the sit’s wrong but that another can be found and slot that in in its place. Something of this nature happened in West Berkshire, though for slightly different reasons. A third option is that B&D pull the site before the Regulation 19 and find others to fill the gap in the housing numbers. This may require a separate consultation on these modifications.

Once there’s any further news, we’ll have it here.

• Theale’s grants

Applications and now open for Theale Parish Council’s Community Grants. “Do you know a local community group, organisation, or charity doing fantastic work in our parish?” a statement from the Council asks. “Tell them about our grants, we’d love to hear from them!

The community grant applications will be considered at the April Council meeting. The closing date for applications is Monday 6 April. For more information and to download an application for, please click here.

• Have your say on council reorganisation

A statement from West Berkshire Council (and a very similar one from the Vale of White Horse) confirms that the government has “launched a consultation on options to reorganise local councils across Oxfordshire and West Berkshire. Local Government Reorganisation is a government-led reform to change how councils in two-tier area are structured, replacing county and district councils with single unitary structures responsible for local services.”

There are three options:

• West Berkshire (already a unitary council), the Vale and South Oxfordshire (part of a two-tier structure) forming a new Ridgeway unitary with all the other Oxfordshire Councils combined into an Oxford and Shires unitary. Oxfordshire CC would be abolished. This is favoured by all WBC and all the Oxfordshire districts except Oxford City.
• As above but with an enlarged Oxford City Council forming a third unitary. This is favoured by Oxford City.
• The whole of Oxfordshire forming a single unitary. This is favoured by Oxfordshire CC.

The last option would not involve West Berkshire. The government wants to make unitaries closer to 500,000 people: even though West Berkshire’s population is only about 170,000, Whitehall’s main focus is to do away with the two-tier system. If the last option is decided upon, West Berkshire might therefore be left alone for a bit.

This option would also quell Reading’s desire to grab some the eastern parts of West Berkshire: for some reason, doing this only seems vitally important if Ridgeway comes into being, although quite why, Reading has not made clear.

The above council links have more information on the various proposals. Visit gov.uk’s webpage here to take part in the consultation by Thursday 26 March.

• Other news

• Penny Post’s second volume of short stories and parodies by Brian Quinn, Gravity and Rust, is now available from any bookshop, including the Hungerford Bookshop, the White Horse Bookshop in Marlborough and the Wantage Bookshop. Click here for more information.

• The latest newsletter from Burghfield and Mortimer ward member Nick Carter can be read here.

• Englefield Parish Magazine.
• Padworth Village Newsletter.
• Stratfield Mortimer Newsletter.
• Benefice of Aldermaston and Woolhampton
• Mortimer Village Partnership.

Our usual round-up of Burghfield area news includes Aldermaston’s campsite, local government reorganisation, volunteer drivers, local history, sick birds, a council vacancy and a bunfight. See also below for community notices and news from your local council.

Upcoming Burghfield area events include Silchester Panto & Family History at Mortimer Library. See below for details, plus regular events and group activities.

• Aldermaston’s campsite

West Berkshire Council has returned to the High Court in relation to the unauthorised traveller site at Reading Road in Aldermaston, where an existing injunction remains in place.

“On Tuesday 27 January 2026,” a statement from West Berkshire Council reads, “the Council opposed an application by the landowners to vary the injunction to allow up to 20 families to remain on the site pending a planning decision. The Council was prepared for the matter to be determined on the basis of the written evidence and opposed the landowners’ request to delay proceedings. However, both parties strongly disputed each other’s evidence.

Due to the complexity of the issues raised, the Judge determined that the application could not fairly be decided at that hearing and has directed that a substantive High Court hearing take place after March 2026. The hearing is expected to last three days, during which both parties will be cross-examined before a final decision is made.”

The injunction remains in force until then, the Judge confirmed. West Berkshire Council is now preparing for the substantive hearing.

This issue has been rumbling on for some months: see below (including the archives of this column) for our previous coverage.

Planning enforcement is on WBC’s radar at present as it’s recently launched a consultation into how it might improve the process. You can click here for more information on this and how to take part, which you need to have done by 5pm on Monday 9 March. This case in Aldermaston might have been what WBC had in mind when it proposed reducing the target time for deal with urgent applications from five days to two.

Mind you, WBC acted with a day or so on this issue when it took place in early November. The problem has been the stop notices were ignored and the only way matters can be enforced is through the expensive and time-consuming lottery of the legal system.

• Have your say on council reorganisation

A statement from West Berkshire Council (and a very similar one from the Vale of White Horse) confirms that the government has “launched a consultation on options to reorganise local councils across Oxfordshire and West Berkshire. Local Government Reorganisation is a government-led reform to change how councils in two-tier area are structured, replacing county and district councils with single unitary structures responsible for local services.”

There are three options:

• West Berkshire (already a unitary council), the Vale and South Oxfordshire (part of a two-tier structure) forming a new Ridgeway unitary with all the other Oxfordshire Councils combined into an Oxford and Shires unitary. Oxfordshire CC would be abolished. This is favoured by all WBC and all the Oxfordshire districts except Oxford City.
• As above but with an enlarged Oxford City Council forming a third unitary. This is favoured by Oxford City.
• The whole of Oxfordshire forming a single unitary. This is favoured by Oxfordshire CC.

The last option would not involve West Berkshire. The government wants to make unitaries closer to 500,000 people: even though West Berkshire’s population is only about 170,000, Whitehall’s main focus is to do away with the two-tier system. If the last option is decided upon, West Berkshire might therefore be left alone for a bit.

This option would also quell Reading’s desire to grab some the eastern parts of West Berkshire: for some reason, doing this only seems vitally important if Ridgeway comes into being, although quite why, Reading has not made clear.

The above council links have more information on the various proposals. Visit gov.uk’s webpage here to take part in the consultation by Thursday 26 March.

• Other news

• Penny Post’s second volume of short stories and parodies by Brian Quinn, Gravity and Rust, is now available from any bookshop, including the Hungerford Bookshop, the White Horse Bookshop in Marlborough and the Wantage Bookshop. Click here for more information.

• The latest newsletter from Burghfield and Mortimer ward member Nick Carter can be read here.

• Englefield Parish Magazine.
• Padworth Village Newsletter.
• Stratfield Mortimer Newsletter.
• Benefice of Aldermaston and Woolhampton
• Mortimer Village Partnership.

Our usual round-up of Burghfield area news includes the latest on Stratfeild Mortimer’s concerns about Basingstoke & Deane’s local plan and an AGN for CCB – plus risking it all, a bunfight, environmental news, family history and a temporary library closure. See also below for community notices and news from your local council.

Upcoming Burghfield area events include Silchester Panto & Family History at Mortimer Library. See below for details, plus regular events and group activities.

• West End Farm in Mortimer

As mentioned last week (see below), the Regulation 18 consultation into Basingstoke and Deane’s (B&D) local plan has now closed. Earlier this week, Stratfield Mortimer’s B&D Local Plan Steering Group sent an update on where matters stood as of 5pm on 23 January.

It appears that B&D “has been unable to keep pace with the volume of submissions received. At the close of the consultation, 1,239 responses had not yet been validated.” These are being dealt with at the rate of about a hundred a day, so the final confirmed total won’t be known for another week or so.

It appears that, so far, 44% of all submissions relate to the Mortimer site (SPS5.15). If this proportion continues, the Steering Group suggests that “we estimate a final figure of around 1,160 responses connected to Mortimer.” This is, it points out, about 38% of the village’s population, which it describes as “an exceptional level of engagement,” 10 to 15% being more common.

“We hope that this strong and sustained level of opposition will ensure that B&D takes the views of Mortimer residents seriously when assessing the proposal,” the update continues. “Decisions are not expected until April at the earliest, and the Steering Group will continue to monitor and engage closely with the process in the meantime.

“The level of community engagement has been outstanding, and residents should be extremely proud of what has been achieved. Whatever the outcome, we can say with confidence that we have done everything possible to make our voices heard. We will continue to keep residents informed of any further developments on this matter as information becomes available.”

You can see the Steering Group’s full response to the consultation by clicking here.

• An AGM for CCB

Connecting Communities in Berkshire (CCB) is an independent charity with fifty years of experience in community development work, originally founded in 1973 as a Rural Community Council. To quote the charity’s website, “our team is knowledgeable and experienced in finding solutions that best meet the needs of communities. We develop partnerships that foster good communications, which in turn build engagement and deliver strong, sustainable communities.”

On 28 January, CCB held its AGM in Chieveley Village Hall, which Penny Post attended along with over fifty other people, representing various organisations which work with or were supported by CCB. The event also included a 21st Century Community Halls case study event which enabled attendees to learn more about the work CCB is doing in this area.

You can click here to read our report on the event, which includes comments from some of the attendees and members of the CCB team.

• Other news

• Penny Post’s second volume of short stories and parodies by Brian Quinn, Gravity and Rust, is now available from any bookshop, including the Hungerford Bookshop, the White Horse Bookshop in Marlborough and the Wantage Bookshop. Click here for more information.

• The latest newsletter from Burghfield and Mortimer ward member Nick Carter can be read here.

• Englefield Parish Magazine.
• Padworth Village Newsletter.
• Stratfield Mortimer Newsletter.
• Benefice of Aldermaston and Woolhampton
• Mortimer Village Partnership.

Our usual round-up of Burghfield area news includes the last day of Stratfield Mortimer’s campaign (and what happens next), land-grab news and a fire-service consultation – plus movies, games, coffee, questions, volunteers, vacancies and a temporary closure. See also below for community notices and news from your local council.

Upcoming Burghfield area events include Mortimer Board Games cafe & Theale Library Movie Buff Quiz. See below for details, plus regular events and group activities.

• Stratfield Mortimer’s campaign: the last day

As mentioned last week (see below), 5pm on Friday 23 January marks the last moment when submissions can be made to Basingstoke & Deane’s (B&D) local plan. As we’ve considered before, one proposed site (at West End Farm in Mortimer) is for a number of reasons profoundly distasteful to both West Berkshire Council (WBC) and Stratfield Mortimer Parish Council (SMPC). Should you wish to respond to the consultation, please see the links in last week’s section for some guidelines as to what points might be worth making.

If you want one suggestion, as mentionned last week, there’s the matter of social housing. This plan should in theory realise about 140 affordable and social-rent homes. If you’re a Stratfield Mortimer resident in need of such a place on your doorstop, however, this will not help you one jot. The homes will in B&D and they will go towards its housing list, even though the new community will for all practical purposes be part of West Berkshire.

Once this Regulation 18 consultation closes, B&D’s officers will have the unenviable job of going through all the responses. To date there have been about 2,500 of these, some of which relate to this matter. Each one must be studied and each one is available for the Inspector to see. What you write will, therefore, be read by the person making the decision.

It may be that, on reading through all this, the officers conclude that there are aspects of the plan (including perhaps this aspect) that won’t stand up, in which case they might be modified. Whatever the final draft document is will then need to be accepted by B&D and will then go to the Planning Inspector. A long formal process, probably involving in-person hearings, will follow. The Inspector can amend parts of the plan or throw the whole thing out. One of the many tests that will be applied is whether B&D has shown a suitable level of co-operation with WBC.

The former would, if it comes to that, probably be the better option for Stratfield Mortimer as a plan-less authority then immediately becomes a target for speculative applications which, even if initially refused, are very likely to succeed on appeal. One such site is likely to be this one. If this does get approved by this wild-west system, not only will WBC and SMPC have no control over what happens but nor will B&D. This is exactly the opposite of what having a local plan is meant to provide and so would reduce the whole exercise to a colossal wste of time.

At 5pm on 23 January, therefore, matters will reach a definite pause until all the responses have been studied. This probably won’t be until early March.

• Land-grab news

Over the last few months (see below and the archive section), we’ve covered the attempts by Reading Council to use the local government reforms as a pretext for grabbing some of the eastern parts of West Berkshire. Reading maintains that this is a logical and principled step, although rather blows this by claiming that the move would prevent these parishes from becoming part of Oxfordshire. The people who wrote this must surely know that this is not what would happen if the Ridgeway Council plan is adopted, so has to go down as a piece of gratuitous polemic. Nor did the statement make clear what would be so awful about being in Oxfordshire anyway.

Theale has probably defeated this attempt after conducting a formal parish poll which demonstrated about 95% opposition to Reading’s plans. Purley has conducted a less formal survey which shows a similar response. Reading appears to have abandonned Pangbourne as being a bridge too far.

That leaves Tilehurst. The situation here is complicated by there being three parishes and three wards (one of which involves Purley). It’s also the one area where Reading’s claim makes the most sense. So far the parishes have not commenced any plans for a poll or survey and nor, it appears, has one formally been requested by residents. Opinion here is likely to be more split than in the other affected areas. The parishes are, perhaps, waiting for the government’s next move. If the Ridgeway plan is kicked out and West Berkshire told it has to join up with Reading, the problem vanishes. If it’s accepted, or held open as a possibility, it remains very much alive.

As mentioned before, it seems amazing that the government has permitted such distractions to further cloud the sky when the problems of the reorganisation are not already stormy enough. A rational way of dealing with this would have been to say that if a council wants to annexe part of another authority, it needs to pay for all the affected parishes to hold a parish poll to judge local reaction. Theale’s cost about £1,500 and Tilehurst’s various ones perhaps more like £5,000. The results would then have to be taken into account by the government when making the final decision.

As the system isn’t rational, however, we’re left with this rather muddled picture with parish councils either guessing what their residents think or being forced to pay out money to conduct a poll on a matter that wasn’t their idea in the first place.

• A consultation from the fire service

Royal Berkshire Fire Authority (RBFA) is consulting all Berkshire residents and staff on Council Tax funding for the next financial year until 9am on Monday 2 February.

“RBFA is committed to delivering value for money across the services provided to local residents,” the RBF explains. “However, due to significant budgetary pressure as outlined in this letter, to protect our services to the public, RBFA is proposing a £5 increase for 2026/2027, based on a Band D precept, to £91.31.

“This year the Government has announced a three-year settlement of central funding, instead of a one-year settlement. To align to this and help us plan our finances effectively over the longer term, RBFA is also consulting on an increase of £5 per annum in Council Tax, based on a Band D precept, for the next three years.”

For more information and to take part in the consultation, please click here.

• Other news

• Penny Post’s second volume of short stories and parodies by Brian Quinn, Gravity and Rust, is now available from any bookshop, including the Hungerford Bookshop, the White Horse Bookshop in Marlborough and the Wantage Bookshop. Click here for more information.

• The latest newsletter from Burghfield and Mortimer ward member Nick Carter can be read here.

• Englefield Parish Magazine.
• Padworth Village Newsletter.
• Stratfield Mortimer Newsletter.
• Benefice of Aldermaston and Woolhampton
• Mortimer Village Partnership.

Our usual round-up of Burghfield area news includes Stratfield Mortimer’s ongoing campaign, enforcement issues in Aldermaston, a fire-service consultation and a look back at 2025 – plus volunteering, movies, a library closure, a book and a councillor vacancy. See also below for community notices and news from your local council.

Upcoming Burghfield area events include St Mary’s Family Film Night, Burghfield & Theale Library Movie Buff Quiz. See below for details, plus regular events and group activities.

• Stratfield Mortimer’s campaign

See below for our various reports on the efforts being made by Stratfield Mortimer Parish Council (SMPC) and a steering group it’s convened for this purpose to oppose Basingstoke & Deane’s (B&D) plans to site a large development at West End Farm. This is in B&D, but only just.

The main concern is that West Berkshire and Stratfield Mortimer will have to cope with the effects of this development (which will include some benefits such as extra business for retailers but also a host of drawbacks such as extra pressure on transport, leisure facilities, GP surgeries and other services) but without receiving any of the developer contributions. These will, unless a deal is done with West Berkshire, be kept by B&D.

Were the development in West Berkshire, SMPC would get 25% of the CIL contributions, as it has an NDP in place. As matters stand, it will receive £0. It’s NDP will be largely ignored in the planning process, which will be conducted by B&D, as will WBC’s own local plan which this NDP is a part of.

It gets even worse. A conversation with a member of the steering group this week exposed another problem. As this is a greenfield site, 40% of the homes (about 140) should be affordable or social-rent. These will, however, all get added to B&D’s housing list, not WBC’s.

In summary, as matters stand, the local community has no influence, received no funding and gets no social-rent homes.

The Regulation 18 public constitution as part of B&D’s local plan closes on 23 January. The SMPC steering group is urging all residents to comment on this (you do not have to be a resident of B&D). before doing this, you’re advised to have a look at this page on the SMPC website. This looks at a number of aspects about which objections can be made and provides links and guidance as to how to make your views known. Remember that with this as all planning matters, the only way that your view will be considered is if it’s expressed through the relevant planning authority’s website. Letters to the press, emails to local councillors, tweets, Facebook posts and anything else don’t count.

• Enforcement issues

West Berkshire Council has recently been granted an extension to the high-court injunction it obtained regarding the unauthorised traveller’ site at Aldermaston. The aim is that it will provide enough time to establish how many families are actually on the site, current estimates ranging from one to twenty. This will run out later this month: then what?

It’s been suggested to me that as a retrospective planning application has been lodged, as long as this covers all the work that’s been done on the site, this will have the effect of pausing any legal challenges while the planning system takes over – and we all know how slow that is. Perhaps I’m being very stupid, but if that is and was always going to be the case, what was the point of issuing the stop notices and the injunctions in the first place?

There have long been concerns that WBC has for a long time not been able to allocate enough travellers’ sites. This has led to unauthorised developments which have then been granted retrospectively – a kind of development by self-selection rather than by policy and which asks the question as to whether WBC is in this regard really a plan-led authority.

It’s also not clear to me (though I’ve asked WBC) whether the total number of identified pitches – those allocated in the plan plus those that have subsequently been granted retrospectively – has now reached the number that the Council is required to provide. If it has, then presumably any future speculative applications should surely fail.

Returning to the question of enforcement, there’s also and issue in Enborne where a retrospective application has been lodged for a site which is processing and burning waste, which is probably in breach of any number of regulations. Here again it appears that the lengthy planning process will need to be followed before anything can be stopped. In both cases, the Council appears to feel that its hands are tied.

These are just two examples. Between them they involve an unauthorised encampment at the gates of a major nuclear weapons facility, a direct challenge to the integrity (and perhaps to the very purpose) of the DEPZ emergency zone, stop notices which have been completely ignored, high-court injunctions which have been partly ignored and, in Enborne, worrying cases of potential air and water pollution. If these don’t constitute reasons for immediate and firm enforcement then it’s very hard to see what would.

Many residents, including this one, are pretty confused by all this. It may well that WBC is doing all that it can with a system that’s in many ways loaded against it and, perhaps, against common sense. It’s also possible that it’s being a tad over-cautious in how it’s interpreting its responsibilities. In either case, there would seem to be something fairly serious with the laws that underpin the system which planning authorities have to operate.

• A consultation from the fire service

Royal Berkshire Fire Authority (RBFA) is consulting all Berkshire residents and staff on Council Tax funding for the next financial year until 9am on Monday, 2 February 2026.

“RBFA is committed to delivering value for money across the services provided to local residents,” the RBF explains. “However, due to significant budgetary pressure as outlined in this letter, to protect our services to the public, RBFA is proposing a £5 increase for 2026/2027, based on a Band D precept, to £91.31.

“This year the Government has announced a three-year settlement of central funding, instead of a one-year settlement. To align to this and help us plan our finances effectively over the longer term, RBFA is also consulting on an increase of £5 per annum in Council Tax, based on a Band D precept, for the next three years.”

For more information and to take part in the consultation, please click here.

• A look back at 2025

We’ve covered a large number of stories in this area over the last twelve months. See last week’s column (below) for some of the major ones, several of which won’t go away or keep coming back…

• Other news

• Penny Post’s second volume of short stories and parodies by Brian Quinn, Gravity and Rust, is now available from any bookshop, including the Hungerford Bookshop, the White Horse Bookshop in Marlborough and the Wantage Bookshop. Click here for more information.

• The latest newsletter from Burghfield and Mortimer ward member Nick Carter can be read here.

• Englefield Parish Magazine.
• Padworth Village Newsletter.
• Stratfield Mortimer Newsletter.
• Benefice of Aldermaston and Woolhampton
• Mortimer Village Partnership.