These notes incorporate some but not all of the matters discussed at the Hungerford Town Council meeting on 2 March 2026, the agenda for which can be found here. The official minutes of the meeting will in due course be found on the HTC site. Any references below to “the meeting” refer to this event unless specified otherwise. Any such issues are not necessarily covered here in the order in which they were raised and some items that were discussed may not be covered here. This report may also include information about HTC’s activities which were not discussed at the meeting.
Full Council Meetings generally take place at 7pm in the Library on the first working Monday of every month, or on the first Tuesday if the first Monday is a bank holiday.
The agenda for the future meetings (as well as for the Council’s various committee meetings) can be found in this section of the HTC website.
See the foot of this post for more information.
HTC = Hungerford Town Council; WBC = West Berkshire Council; WAPC = WBC’s Western Area Planning Committee. NDP = Neighbourhood Development Plan. H2036 = Hungerford’s NDP (so-called until October 2023). HNP = Hungerford’s NDP (from October 2023). DC = District Councillor; TVP = Thames Valley Police.
For HTC updates from previous months, please visit the archives here.
The West Berkshire Dementia Hub
James Wilcox (also of the Fair Close Centre) gave a brief presentation on this initiative, which had its genesis in a conversation he had with the late Chris Boulton of Greenham Trust shortly after the pandemic.
There are several issues facing dementia care and support, locally and nationally. First, we’re stuck with it: any cure seems a long way off. Second, it’s growing with a 50% increase in the number of people estimated to be living with dementia forecast between 2025 and 2030. Third, although there are a number of organisations doing excellent work in the district, there’s sometimes a lack of connectivity: indeed, this is exemplified by the fact that the issue sits slightly awkwardly between health and social care in the national consciousness.
All of this creates a good number of cracks in the system into which some individual cases can, and do, fall.
The solution, James explained, was to look at the best practice available elsewhere and to build on a proven model. This he has done. Sage House in West Sussex provided inspiration with its pioneering integrated community hub.
Three huge steps forward have already been taken…
- The first is the identification of a vacant site – conveniently, with a covenant specifying its use for health-related developments – which can, unlike the re-purposed Sage House centre, be purpose-built. Better still, it’s next to the Community Hospital on the A4, so placing it close to the district’s major healthcare centre but also within easy reach of a good chunk of West Berkshire’s population.
- The second is the continued support of Greenham Trust. Chris Boulton’s enthusiasm for the project continues after his death and the current plan is that the Trust will buy and develop the site: both matters in which it has great expertise.
- The third is the creation of a new charity called West Berkshire Dementia Hub to deliver the project working closely with the dementia community including the NHS, WBC, Age UK Berkshire, Dementia Friendly West Berkshire, Sue Ryder, Alzheimer’s Society, Younger People with Dementia and the Fair Close Centre.
This is, as Alex Gild, Deputy Chief Executive Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust described it, “a journey of real partnership with a visionary and ambitious charity and funders. We’re excited to be part of this new initiative which will transform dementia services across our community.”
The plan is to launch the new facility mid-2028 centred on a café and a courtyard garden. The hub will be welcoming community space combining a full range of dementia services under one roof. The NHS Memory Assessment clinic will be based there, alongside support services including one-to-one wayfinding to help individuals and their families at every stage, activities focused on brain health and rehabilitation, access to dementia technology, complementary therapies, legal and welfare advice and, most importantly, peer support and friendship.
Before then serious funding challenges need to be faced. James was confident that the £4m or so required could be found. None the less, no matter how good the cause, no search for cash on that scale can be taken for granted. None the less, a lot of homework has been done and about a quarter of this has already been identified.
After a brief discussion, HTC gave its full support to the project and wished James well with his plans to turn this vision into reality.
Police report
The following report was provided by the local TVP team for the meeting:
- “NHPT have now got an ID for the male who broke into Below Stairs on 8 February: the same individual is believed to have committed the damage to the nail bar door and White Coco. This male is currently detained in a mental health setting but when released will be arrested and interviewed in relation to these offences.
- There have been issues at a property on Lancaster Close that we are aware of. Police have conducted a joint visit at the property with Sovereign Housing and will be looking to take further action against the occupiers.
- We are aware of drugs and ASB around Freemans Close. Officers have attended and issued warning to the subjects involved and we have not had any further reports made to us.
- We are aware of cars racing around the trading estate at the end of Smitham Bridge Road in the evenings. This is being addressed as we will be looking to contact the owners of the estate to put in measures to ‘target harden’ it meaning the cars won’t have access.
- The break in of a van on Tarrants Hill has been passed to us. It is under investigation and officers have been completing enquiries to attempt to identify the suspects involved.
- Officers seized two vehicles for road traffic offences on Sunday 1 March which were being used illegally around Hungerford.”
See also The local Police team section below.
The Mayor’s report
With the arrival of March, we officially welcome the beginning of spring. It is always a positive time of year, bringing renewed energy to our community initiatives and I very much hope we will soon see more sunshine to accompany it.
Britain in Bloom and Hungerford in Bloom
Preparations for both Britain in Bloom and Hungerford in Bloom are progressing well under the leadership of Councillor Day and Councillor Sutton.
It is particularly encouraging to see the strong level of community interest and engagement. There are some inspiring plans taking shape: I would like to thank everyone involved for their commitment and enthusiasm. These initiatives continue to showcase pride, and the value of collaborative working with the public and key partners.
Hungerford Archery Club
Hungerford Town Council is pleased to have formally signed a tenancy agreement with Hungerford Archery Club. The club will be relocating from the John O’Gaunt School field to the Triangle Field.
I am delighted that the club will now have a permanent base from which it can develop and grow its membership. Supporting local clubs and societies in securing sustainable facilities remains an important part of our work in strengthening community life. I’m sure the club have many plans to strengthen numbers.
Policing and community safety
A meeting has now been arranged with local MP Lee Dillon and Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Barbour to discuss policing matters in Hungerford.
Over the past month, I have been made aware of several retail break-ins. The impact of these incidents on our small, independent retailers can be significant and, in some cases, deeply damaging. It is vital that we continue to raise these concerns and work collaboratively with our partners to ensure appropriate support and visible policing in the town.
Councillor Fyfe will attend the meeting to raise ongoing concerns regarding repeated parking breaches in the High Street.
It was also noted on social media this weekend that two vehicles were seized due to incorrect documentation. While enforcement action is welcome, continued proactive engagement and visible presence will remain key to addressing wider concerns.
Sovereign Housing – a resident’s concerns
I was recently contacted by a resident of a Sovereign Housing property who has expressed serious concerns regarding outstanding repairs and the level of service received.
The issues reported include:
- Debris falling from the lounge ceiling;
- Significant cracks appearing in living room walls;
- Absence of guttering and felt on a flat roof;
- Ongoing disrepair to a rear entrance door, previously described by an engineer as the worst he had ever seen, still waiting for the repair since June 2025.
Despite these concerns having been raised previously, the resident reports that repairs have not yet been completed.
I have advised the resident that I will contact Sovereign directly this week to seek urgent clarification and request that the necessary remedial works are undertaken without further delay. It is deeply disappointing to hear of situations such as this, particularly where safety and property integrity may be at risk.
Street cleaning and potholes
Slippery paving and potholes continue to be the main concerns at present…
- Regrding the slippery pavements, HTC is trying to find a solution. If anyone has a ride-on floor washer/scrubber to clean the York stones (the cleaning may take half a day and be required twice a year) please contact Hungerford Town Council. Any work would need to be done after agreement with WBC.
- Regarding reporting potholes (and many other matters such as dog mess), please use WBC’s Report a Problem page.
- Regarding the infamous pothole by the John O’Gaunt pub, I understand that resolving the underlying problems are the responsibility of organisations other than WBC. The latest information is that repairs will start on Tuesday 24 March and continue for up to two days, with two-way lights in operation. This will mean further disruption, hopefully for a short period of time while (hopefully) permanent repairs take place. I’ve been informed of several near misses at this site. Please be cautious in the meantime and allow extra time for your journey during this period.
Charlie & the Chocolate Factory – Hungerford Theatre Company
I was thrilled to attend the Town show through half term; I was in awe of the talent we have in the town. The children were playing lead roles and were word perfect – they must have really put in the hours. I loved the Oompa-Loompas with their bright coloured wigs and flashing glasses. Well done to all the cast and crew: it was a great show.
Freedom of the Town for 6 Armoured Close Support Battalion REME
HTC’s next teams meeting with REME will be held on 18 March. Correspondence has been a little challenging in a busy world, but I think we are nearly where we need to be. The event itself will take place on Saturday 25 April.
Annual Town Meeting
A reminder that the town meeting will be held on Wednesday 18 March in the Corn Exchange. I look forward to seeing you there…
Reporting a problem
Following some members mentioning specific cases of matters such a potholes and dog mess, the Mayor reminded everyone that the best way of reporting these matters, and a wide range of other ones, was WBC’s Report a Problem page. In general this works very well and gives the person making the comment a unique reference number and the option for being updated about the progress.
Councillors were also encouraged to make this link known to residents who might contact them about an issue so they can go straight to WBC on the issue, rather than doing so via HTC councillors.
District Councillors’ report
DC Gaines and DC Benneyworth were present at the meeting. Matters they covered included the following:
- Garages. The poor, often unsightly, seemingly poorly maintained and at time dangerous conditions of over a hundred of these had been identified by HTC some eighteen months ago. Some are private although many are owned by Sovereign (SNG). One of the problems has been establishing who at SNG is responsible, following various changes of responsibility there: also of establishing who owns the private ones. It was agreed that HTC and the DCs would continue to push this forward.
- WBC’s budget. This was passed last week at WBC’s Full Council.
- Station Road car park. DC Benneyworth had written to WBC’s officers complaining about the mess, the confusions about the operation of the gates and the inability of cash payments and received an admission from officers tht these issues were being looked into. The car park is not, he contends (and many would agree) “working in the way it was intended”, for residents, for local businesses or for visitors to the town.
- Members’ bids. Another round of these will open for DCs to bid for local infrastructure investment early in the new financial year: details to be announced soon.
- Potholes. See the Mayor’s report above. In short, use WBC’s Report a Problem page to report a wide range of problems, including potholes: as regards the infamous one by the John O’Gaunt pub, the hope is that this will be fixed after a few days’ work from 24 March.
Contact details for the Hungerford & Kintbury ward members (and all the other ones) can be found by clicking here.
Britain in Bloom and Hungerford in Bloom
Progress is being made on both of these initiatives and brief reports were provided at the meeting. Further information on both of these, including how people can take part, will be announced at the Town Meeting on 18 March and publicised thereafter. See also the Mayor’s report above.
REME’s freedom of the town award
The event itself has been fixed for Saturday 25 April. 250 service personnel will take part in the march through the town and there will be a ceremony at the Town Hall. Further details will be announced nearer the time. See also the Mayor’s report above.
Work on the school alley
After reports of seriously overgrowing vegetation, the street-cleaner Pete Whiteside is going above and beyond his job and has taken on the task of cutting this back. It was also reported at the meeting that the walkway was in poor condition and could do with being resurfaced.
The 2026 town meeting
This ever-popular event will take place in the Corn Exchange at 6.30pm on Wednesday 18 March. As before, this will follow the exhibition-style format of previous years and will provide an opportunity for residents to meet some of the many organisations that help make Hungerford the special place it is.
All the organisations which had stands last year are being contacted by the Town Council. Over twenty have so far confirmed. If your organisation would like to be involved, please email townclerk@hungerford-tc.gov.uk. as soon as possible – the number of stands is limited, though anyone is welcome to come as an attendee.
See also the Mayor’s report above.
HTC’s committees
The following committee meetings have recently taken place (“last meeting” refers to the last meeting for which minutes were available on the day this post was published). Environment & Planning generally meets once a month and the others every other month. See the separate section above for meetings relating to the Hungerford Neighbourhood Development Plan (which has now been adopted).
- Environment and Planning. (Last meeting 9 February – click here to see the minutes.) Items covered included: orange site notices; the Queen Anne building; illuminated signs; permitted development; health and safety issues; fly tipping; blue plaques; enforcement issues; three planning applications (all no objection); and case officers’ reports.
- Highways and Transport. (Last meeting 26 January – click here to read the minutes.) Items covered included: Smarten Up Hungerford; speeding and road safety; the Atherton Road roundabout; slippery pavements; lamp posts; and risk assessments.
- Recreation, Amenities and War Memorials. (Last meeting 19 January – click here to read the minutes.) Items covered included: an update on actions; railings at Memorial Avenue; Hungerford Archers; repairs and maintenance; RoSPA inspections; health and safety; the Croft Field; regulations at St Saviour’s; a donated garden urn; potholes; the tree programme; Newtown Gardens; Hungerford Leisure Centre.
- Finance and General Purposes. (Last meeting 14 January – click here to read the minutes.) Items covered included: an update on actions; data protection; Ramsbury Play park; the Great West Way; the library building; the Croft Field Centre; grant applications; HR policies; Hungerford Archers; contractors; and Newtons Gardens.
Note: if the links above don’t work, this may be because they were linked to unadopted (draft) minutes which have since been replaced by adopted ones. If so, please visit this page of HTC’s website for the most up-to-date information on meetings past and the agendas of those yet to come.
For details on HTC’s committees, including membership, agendas and minutes, please click here (and go to the “Town Council” tab).
The local Police team
The current set-up of the team is one Inspector, one Sergeant, three Police Constables and four PCSOs to cover the Hungerford and Downlands area. Please see below for how to contact them.
Crime and incident statistics
It was explained at a previous meeting that discrepancies between the figures reported by the local TVP team and those available for the whole area were due to the former relating only to incidents with which the local TVP team was directly involved.
The total of all reported crimes can be found here. The more you zoom into the Crime Map, the more specific the location of the various crimes will be (within the legal limits of how these can be defined).
Local events
If you have any community events for which you would like representation from your local NHPT, please contact them via the email address below. While local TVP representatives cannot guarantee always to be able to attend, they will make every effort to do so.
General information (including contacts)
- Please report all incidents to the Police or otherwise they will not be officially recorded – news travels fast round a community but if no one reports incidents the police may not know about it. Mentioning an incident on social media does not count as reporting the crime.
- See this web page for more information on the local TVP Police team in the Hungerford area.
- People are encouraged to sign up for Thames Valley Alerts. As well as local crime information, you can receive details of the latest scams.
- Thames Valley Police has a Facebook page.
- The local policing team also wants to draw attention to the ‘what three words’ app which is used to help with the prevention of rural crime by locating people. The app provides a three-word code for each grid which is mapped over the world. By ringing 999 and quoting it, the police can locate you.
- If you believe you have been a victim of fraud or cybercrime, please report it to Action Fraud by calling 0300 123 2040, or visiting www.actionfraud.police.uk.
- You can report incidents online but if it is urgent please continue to call on 101 (non-emergency) and 999 in an emergency.
- If you would like to report anonymously you can do so via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or online.
- The team’s email address is HungerfordandDownlandsNHPT@thamesvalley.pnn.police.uk This is not monitored 24/7 and should not be used in an emergency or to report a crime.
- The local police team is keen to promote the Herbert Protocol initiative which helps us all to try to keep vulnerable members of our community safe.
Contacting HTC
HTC can be contacted in the following ways:
- By email to townclerk@hungerford-tc.gov.uk.
- By post to The Town Clerk, Hungerford Town Council, The Library, Church Street, Hungerford RG17 0JG.
- In person at the above address between 10am and 2pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
- By phone on 01488 686 195.
Any questions for an HTC meeting need to arrive by 2pm on the day (please allow more time if you have left this on the ansafone).
Members of the public are also welcome to attend any meetings.
Contacting WBC in an emergency
You can also contact West Berkshire Council out of office hours for emergencies. These are considered to include:
- Major incidents such as major accidents or significant flooding.
- Fallen trees and other debris blocking or restricting roads or causing potential danger to road users.
- Traffic lights not working (West Berkshire Council only manages fixed traffic lights, not temporary ones).
- Emergency repairs to council-owned temporary accommodation (tenants of properties should contact their housing association, landlord or agent).
The sections above cover the main issues with which HTC has recently been involved or concerned: it by no means describes all of HTC’s activities. Nor is this an official record of any meeting nor of any other aspect of HTC’s activities. Links to the official minutes of this and other meetings are provided in this post. For more information on HTC, please click here.
If there’s anything that you’d like to see addressed by HTC, and perhaps also covered in this way in future editions of Penny Post Hungerford, please email claire.barnes@hungerford-tc.gov.uk. 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 HTC 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 HTC and others. Every reasonable effort has been made to provide a clear and dispassionate summary of the points covered but these may contain expressions of opinion which may not accord with HTC’s official view on the matter. Links have been provided to other posts, on the Penny Post site or elsewhere, to give additional information where this has been judged useful or necessary. The presence of such a link should not be taken to imply that HTC necessarily agrees with, endorses or supports any of the material contained therein.
