This week’s news

• If you missed December’s Hungerford Penny Post please click here for latest news from Hungerford Town Council, the latest on Chestnut Walk and lots of Christmas cheer in the town.

• December news from Hungerford High Street includes discount stamp prices (second class 57p, first class 85p) for your Christmas cards from the Hungerford Coin & Stamp Centre, special offer on massage treatments at Hungerford Chiropractic and Physiotherapy Healthcare and lots of Christmas wishes from our independent businesses who are very grateful for all the support we give them during the year.

• The wait is nearly over for the Hungerford Victorian Extravaganza this Friday 8 December from 5pm. If you would like the experience of carrying a lantern in the parade please contact Penny on 07768 981658 or bring your own lanterns to the Great Grooms carpark (opposite the Bear Hotel) at 7pm. And don’t forget to come in your Victorian costume either as there will be prizes for best-dressed Victorians, whether they be chimney sweeps or gentry, on the Town Hall steps at 6pm on the night.  See more details here.

• Hungerford Town Band‘s popular Christmas Concert is this Saturday 9 December in the Town Hall. All ages are welcome to come and enjoy the usual Christmas songs in different arrangements along with music from Home Alone and Aladdin. Wear your Christmas jumpers, bring your festive singing voices and join in with the Christmas spirit. Tickets are £8 on the door.

• Santa’s Sleigh will be busy visiting all the streets of Hungerford between Wednesday 13 and 20 December. He will also take time to visit Kintbury. Luckily he has scheduled his routes with Hungerford Rotary who have kindly shared them with us here.

• There are currently problems with the boiler at the swimming pool at Hungerford Leisure Centre. You are advised to call 01488 call 683 303 to check that your swim session is taking place. Other facilities and activities such as the gym and exercise classes are unaffected.

• The cost of living crisis isn’t going away any time soon and West Berkshire Foodbank is very grateful for financial donations via their website westberks.foodbank.org.uk and for donations of electrical items such as slow cookers, air fryers, heated blankets or room heaters which can be dropped off at the Community Furniture Project on Bone Lane, in Newbury.

• Ade Edmundson, the busy actor, comedian and writer has had some time freed-up in his schedule and will be visiting Hungerford Bookshop to sign copies of his new bestselling biography Berserker! from 1pm-2pm on Saturday 16 December. For full details click here.   

• The countdown is on till The Downgate Pub‘s festive dog walk on Christmas Eve. There’ll be prizes for best dressed dogs and humans, complimentary mince pies and all proceeds raised will be going towards helping the homeless rescue animals at NAWT Berkshire. Pop along and be ready to walk from 11am.

• There is still time to nominate local residents or volunteers who have gone above and beyond to help the community for West Berkshire’s Community Champion Awards. Fill in the online nomination form by Monday 11 December.

• HUGS Ukraine Support Group is very grateful for recent donations which have all now been distributed. They still need additional dry storage and would be extremely grateful if anyone could offer HUGS additional space in the Hungerford area to accommodate mounting donations prior to collection by their partners. Please contact 07999 693399 or via helptoukraine.co.uk.

• Hungerford Ladies Group is asking for help to ensure that everyone assisted by Berkshire Women’s Aid receives a thoughtful Christmas gift. Please donate gifts such as toiletries, hair care products, snacks, socks or stationery, which will be made up into care packages and gift bags. Please drop off at Hungerford Print Company, Newbury Building Society or Snippit’s Barbers. The final drop off date is Friday 15 December. See more details here.

• Will you be alone on Christmas Day? If you would like to join the Hungerford Methodist Church‘s Christmas lunch as a helper or guest, contact them for more information by calling Catherine on 07717 13021 or email [email protected]. Please let them know if you would need transport to attend or if you could help with transport. Booking is essential as places are limited.

• Do you know any local residents or volunteers who have gone above and beyond to help the community? Quick reminder that there is still time to nominate them for West Berkshire’s Community Champion Awards. Fill in the online nomination form by 11 December.

• Winding Wood Vineyard between Kintbury and Wickham is hosting a couple of Vineyard Open Days with Christmas stalls on Friday 8 and Saturday 9 December. They were very popular last year so do pop along if you fancy a glass of fizz.

• Quick reminder that Hungerford Memory Singers dementia choir’s first public performance will be a short Christmas Concert at 3pm this Saturday 9 December at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Priory Road. The concert is to highlight the magic of music and singing for people with early onset dementia and other neurological illnesses. Entry is free but donations welcome on the door for Dementia UK. Booking is essential with Olivia on [email protected] or 07989 388827.

• Quick reminder about free bus travel on Saturdays 16 and 23 December. The free travel even extends to our neighbouring areas such as Reading, Basingstoke, and Swindon. If you start your journey in West Berkshire, your return journey is also free. To learn more click here.

• Local seniors can now get a £2 discount on delicious two-course lunches at Redwood House thanks to a new initiative between The Fair Close Centre, which provides the lunches, and West Berkshire Council. See here for more details and how to apply.

• Latest travel tips from Veronica at Fare Wise Travel spans visits to Santa’s Lapland to The Rose of Hungerford which they are currently taking books for their popular Santa Cruises.

• Hungerford’s newsletter

The December issue of Penny Post Hungerford was published earlier this week and you can click here to read it if you missed it.  Two of the major stores we cover in this relate to issues that have been rumbling on for in one case almost a year and the other for over six years.

The one-year issue is the accident in the High Street a year ago next week. Die to a mess-up by someone higher up the Thames Valley Police food chain, no prosecutions will result. We had a look at the legal reasons behind this last week (see below). At Monday’s meeting of Hungerford Town Council, the Mayor provided a latter of apology she had received from the Chief Constable. You can read the full text of that in our monthly Hungerford town Council update here.

It’s worth stressing again that this oversight was not the responsibility of the local Police team that covers the town.

The six-year issue concerns the non-progress at the former care home at Chestnut Walk. Rather than work starting this autumn as previously promised by the WBC/Sovereign joint venture, it was recently announced that this would now be delayed until September 2024. It’s hoped that a meeting between the two parties in the next few days will come up with a better date as well as a better reason for the delay rather than the rather anodyne one that’s been suggested. You can read our survey of the whole sorry saga here.

Although the matter of the non-prosecution has probably gone as far as it can (though an in-person apology from the Chief Constable at a public meeting would be a handsome gesture), Chestnut Walk is very definitely work in progress. As soon as there’s any further news – good, bad or indifferent – we’ll let you know.

• Choosing the sites

As we covered at the time, Hungerford’s Neighbourhood Development Plan (HNP) team recently held a in-person and on-line consultations on the subject of which combination of the three possible development sites should be recommended for inclusion in the plan. The responses have now been evaluated and showed a clear preference (46%) for option A, the two sites in Smitham Bridge Road and at the rear of Cottrell Close. These will between them provide 56 homes, one more than Hungerford’s allocation during the local plan period requires.

The next stages are (dates are estimates):

• Complete the draft plan and send this to West Berkshire Council for comments.
• A formal six-week consultation (early 2024).
• Public examination (mid 2024).
• Public referendum on the Plan (autumn 2024).

For more information on the HNP generally, please see this article on Penny Post. For more information on the recent consultation, please this article on HTC’s website.

• Budget consultations in Hungerford on 12 December

West Berkshire Council would like to thanks those residents who have already responded to the consultations on our budget proposals. “To give you another opportunity to find out more about these and ask any questions you may have,” a WBC spokesperson said, “we are hosting four drop in sessions, three across the district and one virtual session for anyone who is unable to attend in person.”

The first session will be next Tuesday, 12 December at Hungerford Leisure Centre. Councillor Lee Dillon, Leader of West Berkshire Council ,and Councillor Iain Cottingham, Executive Member for Finance, will be there from 5.30pm to 7.30pm to answer any questions you may have about the proposals. They will have physical copies of the consultations available for those of you who may want to take one away. You can find the consultations online.

This week’s news

• Not long to wait now for the Hungerford Victorian Extravaganza on Friday 8 December. If you would like the experience of carrying a lantern in the parade please contact Penny on 07768 981658. And don’t forget to come in your Victorian costume either as there will be prizes for best-dressed Victorians, whether they be chimney sweeps or gentry, on the Town Hall steps at 6pm on the night.  See more details here.

• Will you be alone on Christmas Day? If you would like to join the Hungerford Methodist Church‘s Christmas lunch as a helper or guest, contact them for more information by calling Catherine on 07717 13021 or email [email protected]. Please let them know if you would need transport to attend or if you could help with transport. Booking is essential as places are limited.

• Hungerford Town Band‘s popular Christmas Concert is on Saturday 9 December in the Town Hall. All ages are welcome to come and enjoy the usual Christmas songs in different arrangements along with music from Home Alone and Aladdin. Wear your Christmas jumpers, bring your festive singing voices and join in with the Christmas spirit. Tickets are £8 on the door.

• Do you know any local residents or volunteers who have gone above and beyond to help the community? Quick reminder that there is still time to nominate them for West Berkshire’s Community Champion Awards. Fill in the online nomination form by 11 December.

• Winding Wood Vineyard between Kintbury and Wickham is hosting a couple of Vineyard Open Days with Christmas stalls on Friday 8 and Saturday 9 December. They were very popular last year so do pop along if you fancy a glass of fizz.

• Festive markets this weekend include Boxford Christmas Market in Boxford Village Hall from 2pm to 6pm on Saturday 2 December with lovely stalls, mulled wine and a visit from you-know-who

• Hungerford Bookshop invites you to Christmas treats and a book signing with award-winning author Santa Montefiore next Tuesday 5 December at Roxton’s across the road. On Hungerford Extravaganza night on Friday 8 December why not escape the crowds and pop in for a browse and a mince pie? And Adrian Edmonson will be signing copies of his new book Beserker! on Saturday 16 December between 1pm and 2pm in the bookshop.

• Quick reminder that Hungerford Memory Singers dementia choir’s first public performance will be a short Christmas Concert at 3pm on Saturday 9 December at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Priory Road. The concert is to highlight the magic of music and singing for people with early onset dementia and other neurological illnesses. Entry is free but donations welcome on the door for Dementia UK. Booking is essential with Olivia on [email protected] or 07989 388827.

• Quick reminder about free bus travel on Saturdays 16 and 23 December. The free travel even extends to our neighbouring areas such as Reading, Basingstoke, and Swindon. If you start your journey in West Berkshire, your return journey is also free. To learn more click here.

• There is still time to support Hungerford’s Christmas gift collection for Berkshire Women’s Aid. Please see details here of the items being requested and where to drop off your donations on Hungerford High Street before Friday 15 December.

• Local seniors can now get a £2 discount on delicious two-course lunches at Redwood House thanks to a new initiative between The Fair Close Centre, which provides the lunches, and West Berkshire Council. See here for more details and how to apply.

• Latest travel tips from Veronica at Fare Wise Travel spans visits to Santa’s Lapland to The Rose of Hungerford which they are currently taking books for their popular Santa Cruises.

• Hungerford Bookshop is busy in the run-up to Christmas, attending festive fairs and hosting authors like Clare Balding and Santa Montefiore. See their latest news here.

• If you, or anyone you know, lives in Hungerford or Hungerford Newtown and has celebrated an eightieth birthday this year or will do so before the end of the year, and would like to receive a Newbury Weekly News Over 80s Christmas parcel please contact Hungerford co-ordinators Ted and Daphne Angell on 01488 682610, 07799 886597 or [email protected].  And, if you know of anyone over 80 who, for whatever reason, is no longer with us, again please contact Ted and Daphne. They really need to keep their list up to date so that nobody misses out.

• A statue of limitations

There’s still some confusion and anger in Hungerford about the failure of the police to mount a prosecution against the driver who caused the accident in Hungerford High Street, the first anniversary of which comes up on 13 December.

Summary offences, which are tried in a magistrates’ court, must be actioned within six months. Most of the matters with which the motorist could have been charged were of this kind. One of these is careless driving. There is no such limitation for the more serious charge of dangerous driving, a matter which can go to a crown court. Unfortunately, the law is quite vague on where the difference between these lies and it is left to courts and juries to decide. The location of the accident would be one factor that would be taken into account. This one took place on the approach to a roundabout on a fairly narrow high street with a 30mph limit.

One problem for the Crown Prosecution Service might have been the role played by the other car which pulled out in front of the speed merchant. When this driver started the manoeuvre, the car was some way away and it’s hard to judge speeds when someone’s coming straight at you. None the less, another vehicle was involved and I guess that a defence lawyer could have claimed that, were this not to have happened, no accident would have taken place. A dangerous driving charge might therefore be hard to prove.

None of this explains why the charge of careless driving wasn’t brought, it having been presented on a plate and complete with doorbell video footage. I’d imagine that such a conviction would have been a no-brainer. If driving at about 60mph in a 30mph high street doesn’t constitute carelessness then it’s hard to say what does. The decision not to proceed with this – and the other summary offences that might have applied – within the six-month window looks increasingly like a serious blunder by someone in the Thames Valley Police.

It’s worth stressing that the local Police team had no hand in this matter and are not responsible for this mistake.

It’s still theoretically possible that a dangerous driving charge could be brought but there is still the problem of the other motorist. There’s also the likelihood that the defence would claim that the greater charge was only being brought because the Police had made a procedural cock-up with the lesser ones. This would, as well as leading to what might be a humiliating acquittal, mean that the Police’s error would, perhaps equally humiliatingly, be referred to in open court. I can’t see the TVP wanting either of these outcomes.

Regrettably, it looks as if that is that and an opportunity for a pretty-much nailed-on conviction has been lost. I repeat my suggestion that someone from TVP with a decent number of stripes on their uniform come to Hungerford and explain what happened and reassure people that it won’t happen again.

• Chestnut Walk

I mentioned this last week (see below) and I now do so again. When is work on this long-delayed social-housing development in Hungerford going to start? This was originally planned to begin the the autumn of 2023 (ie by now).

Not having managed to get any answers from WBC, on 30 November I applied myself to Sovereign, the other partner in the joint venture that was set up some years ago to build these much-needed homes. The reply I received was very prompt, though that’s more than can be said for the new schedule.

“Getting development right takes time,” said Jo Smith, Senior Development Manager at SNG, “and we want to be sure we are building the best place and the best homes we can for Hungerford. We have been engaging with the council and the S106 has finally been agreed. We have signed this and we are waiting for the countersignature from West Berkshire Council so that the planning consent can be issued.

“We are now preparing to bring on board a construction partner that can deliver homes to the high standards we set ourselves under our Homes and Place standard.We are forecasting to start on site in September 2024.”

I have asked a number of questions arising from this surprising and disappointing message and will bring you the responses when I have them.

On a separate note, Chestnut Walk was, until it was closed about six years ago, one of four care homes that WBC owned. Three of these – Chestnut Walk, Willows Edge and Birchwood – are named after trees. The fourth, in Kintbury, is called Notrees. Was this a massive arboreal co-incidence or some private joke by someone at WBC, who perhaps from time to time still sniggers to him or herself about having pulled off this naming jape?

• A naughty boiler

Many of you will know that I’m a regular user of the wonderful 25m pool at Hungerford Leisure Centre. For forty minutes or so three of four times a week, all I think about is swimming, breathing and counting the lengths. When is the water, only these three things matter.

This week, my schedule has been a bit disrupted as the boiler has been misbehaving itself. Government guidelines provide minimum temperatures for leisure centres and these vary depending on if children are using the pool. As a result, some sessions have had to be cancelled. Engineers have been on-site but even when fixed these things need to be tested for a few days in battlefield conditions. The website may not reflect any cancelled sessions so my advice is to call on 01488 683303 to check that the session you want to go for is actually happening. All other facilities such as the gym are open as normal.

(1 December update: I just called up and the pool problems persist. As mentioned above, however, do call to check as the situation may change at short notice.)

Whilst on the subject, the Leisure Centre offers monthly payment by direct debit. If you use the pool more than about seven times a month you’ll find that this works out cheaper.

• Hungerford’s post

Over the last week or so we’ve been contacted by several residents on the subject of the postal service in Hungerford. In p[arts of the town this now seems to require a grading one lower than “awful” – perhaps “largely non-existent” would hit the spot as some people only get deliveries about every ten days and, when it arrives, some of the letters are not actually for them

I suggested that as well as contacting Royal Mail itself, residents with problems should contact our MP Laura Farris (who has got involved in this before) and the district councillors. I’m aware that the mail service isn’t the responsibility of the MP or the council but the more they know about the problem, the more they can raise it when the opportunity arises. Indeed, one of the Hungerford ward members, Tony Vickers, recently attended a meeting at which a former Royal Mail manager admitted that the only part of the business which is making money is that to do with parcels. Junk mail (which is more profitable than normal post) tends to get delivered first, often in bulk as this saves time and money. Rural deliveries make a thumping loss. Time-critical letters with first-class stamps can take a week or more to arrive. “So much,” Tony Vickers said, “for the ‘next-day’ service.”

So much too, perhaps for the Universal Service. This, Ofcom reminds us, “requires Royal Mail to deliver letters six days a week (Monday to Saturday) and parcels five days a week (Monday to Friday) to every address in the UK, at affordable prices that are uniform throughout the UK.” This is quoted in a document which states that Ofcom is currewntly “laying the groundwork for providing advice on how the universal postal service might need to evolve to better reflect the changing needs of postal users.”

The commercial realities of Royal Mail’s operation have certainly changed: what has not is that some people still depend on, and have a right to expect, letters to be delivered promptly and correctly. Not all of us rely completely on emails and texts and all of us from time to time rely on things like SIM or bank cards being delivered.

Laura Farris also pointed out that Royal Mail is a private company that’s regulated by OfCom. The regulator has a dedicated page for dealing with complaints about the postal service which you can visit here. For the reasons mentioned above, I still think it worth telling your elected representatives about problems that you experience.

This week’s news

• Help Ukraine Group Support is extremely grateful for the donations received at Hungerford Football Club last Tuesday. They managed to fill five large vans with humanitarian aid. They are still looking for local temporary storage space. See here for more details.

• Why were a musical toilet roll holder and a headless doll to be found in Hungerford’s Croft Hall last Saturday? Well, of course, it was the latest session of the hugely popular Hungerford Repair Café. As well as the usual toasters that wouldn’t pop, garden tools that had gone blunt and clothes that needed stitching, the volunteers at the repair cafe also set about mending some more unusual treasures. Despite it being damp and grey, over hundred visitors attended, making it the busiest Repair Cafe since they started in the summer of 2021. The next Repair Cafe will be on Saturday 20 January from 10am until 1230 pm at the Croft Hall. If you want to volunteer, or to know more about what they do, click here to find dates and contact details.

• West Berkshire Council is pleased to announce that there will once again be free bus travel this festive season on Saturday 16 and Saturday 23 December. On these days, you can travel all day, any time, completely free (do check the timetables) within West Berkshire. The free travel even extends beyond West Berkshire to our neighbouring areas such as Reading, Basingstoke, and Swindon. If you start your journey in West Berkshire, your return journey is also free. To learn more click here.

• Quick reminder about Hungerford’s Christmas gift collection for Berkshire Women’s Aid. Please see details here of the items being requested and where to drop off your donations on Hungerford High Street before Friday 15 December.

• One of the many highlights of the Hungerford Victorian Extravaganza is the magical lanterns in the parade (the type of lanterns that are carried on the end of a pole not the ones that float in the sky and cause problems in the countryside). Everyone is welcome to make or bring their own lanterns to carry in the parade on Friday 8 December.  Hungerford Chamber of Commerce, which organises the Extravaganza, invites everyone to a lantern workshop on Saturday 25 November 1 to 4pm at Croft Field Centre RG17 0HY (between Hungerford Nursery and St Lawrence’s Church). £3 donation requested for materials and please dress for mess. Any questions please call 07768 981 658.

• Local seniors can now get a £2 discount on delicious two-course lunches at Redwood House thanks to a new initiative between The Fair Close Centre, which provides the lunches, and West Berkshire Council. See here for more details and how to apply.

• Beejacks thanks everyone who supported his fundraising quiz in aid of the school the Beejacks TOMBO Foundation is building is Sierra Leone. It was a well supported night and plenty of good food, fun and company, raising £843 after expenses. They still need another £5,000 so if anyone else who would like to donate please do so through Barclays Newbury, sort code 20-59-14, account number 03786803.

• Congratulations to John O’Gaunt School‘s award-winning mathematicians Cameron, Alice, Harry and Arwen and 11 year old martial arts champion Ellie Keenan who was a medalist in America this summer.

• Latest travel tips from Veronica at Fare Wise Travel spans visits to Santa’s Lapland to The Rose of Hungerford which they are currently taking books for their popular Santa Cruises.

• Hungerford Bookshop is busy in the run-up to Christmas, attending festive fairs and hosting authors like Clare Balding and Santa Montefiore. See their latest news here.

• If you, or anyone you know, lives in Hungerford or Hungerford Newtown and has celebrated an eightieth birthday this year or will do so before the end of the year, and would like to receive a Newbury Weekly News Over 80s Christmas parcel please contact Hungerford co-ordinators Ted and Daphne Angell on 01488 682610, 07799 886597 or [email protected].  And, if you know of anyone over 80 who, for whatever reason, is no longer with us, again please contact Ted and Daphne. They really need to keep their list up to date so that nobody misses out.

• Crash bang in the High Street

Few people who use Hungerford High Street will be unaware that there’s been a contraflow in place near Atherton Drive for nearly a year. We reported a few weeks ago that this is costing WBC £9,000 a month. It’s hoped that this will be recouped from the insurance companies: but with insurance companies, you never know. Meanwhile, the disruption continues. This is likely to get worse before it gets better as, when work eventually starts on repairing the badly damaged building, the contraflow may need to be lengthened and widened and new temporary crossing points installed.

All of these inconveniences are, however, minor compared to the news, rumoured some weeks ago and recently confirmed, that no prosecutions will result. The one-year anniversary of the accident will be coming up in a few weeks but it appears that there was another anniversary – at six months – by which time the Police should have commenced legal action. That date having been missed, it appears that nothing can now be done.

I still can’t get my head round how this could have happened. The whole incident was captured on film by a doorbell camera. The driver was known to the Police and was videoed leaving the scene of the accident, without the car (which was a write-off). There seemed to be any one of about half a dozen charges which could have been brought as the incident racked up pretty much a royal straight flush of traffic offences. About the only thing missing was serious injury to anyone. This would have been very different were the crash to have happened fifteen seconds earlier when a woman and a child were walking past the building.

I’m no expert but I would have thought that prosecutions don’t come much easier than this. As it was, it seems nothing was done at all. I understand that letters have been written to the Police and Crime Commissioner amongst others and that there will be some answers provided. I think that the PCC and a senior officer should come to the town in person and explain what went wrong and why it won’t do so again.

Such a visit could also mark the start of what would seem to be a much-needed PR campaign to remind people that, this massive aberration aside, it’s important that all crimes and incidents be reported. At present, many will be asking themselves why they should bother.

• Chestnut Walk

Ah, this old chestnut again…

As a result of West Berkshire Council’s current financial predicament, it’s being proposed that Willows Edge Care Home in Newbury be closed, saving the council nearly £250,ooo a year (see the Newbury Area Weekly News section for more on this). We have been here before: for, in 2017, Chestnut Walk Care Home in Hungerford closed, one of the benefits of which was a saving of £95,000 a year.

Another benefit was that social-rent homes would.be built. WBC owned the land. A joint-venture was set up with Sovereign Housing, the district’s major social-housing provider. There was no question that the homes would be needed. What could possibly go wrong?

Although councils move pretty slowly, they are like cheetahs at full tilt compared to what happens when they partner up with others. I don’t know if the issue here was Sovereign, or WBC, or the chemistry between them but for ages it appeared that nothing at all happened (apart from an arson attack on the shell of the old care home). In 2021 a planning application was finally lodged but this was strongly criticised by two of the ward members and by Hungerford Town Council as being woefully lacking in ambition with regard to sustainability. Aside from anything else, WBC had recently declared a climate emergency and it seemed odd that it was exhorting us to do our bit when it was failing to do so itself. Not a good look, as they say.

There followed long discussions about the application between the various parties, during which the project almost seem to be going backwards. The opposite could be said of the construction costs: inflation was starting to kick in and building estimates were increasing faster than the spinning meter on a London taxi.

Finally, shortly before the May 2023 election, it was announced that the two parties had agreed most of the financial matters. The specifications of the buildings were a little vaguer than HTC would have liked but better than the original proposals. The issue also provided a useful reminder to planning authorities and social-housing providers that if town or parish councils thought there was something sub-standard about a project or an idea they’d create a fuss about it (Sovereign also had another bruising run-in with a parish at around this time, Stratfield Mortimer in this case, about the proposed closure of Windmill Court). The election came and went, bringing in a new administration bursting with good intentions. The start date of autumn 2023 was confirmed.

By any seasonal standard, autumn is now here but there seem to be no spades in the ground. If this carries on for too much longer WBC will be in the humiliating position of having allowed one of its own planning permissions to lapse. I’m sure it won’t come to that – or am I? I don’t think that anyone believed that it would take seven years to get nowhere, so I suppose anything’s possible.

Hungerford is fortunate in that one of its ward members, Denise Gaines is also the portfolio holder for Housing. On 23 November she assured me that she would very soon be having a meeting with a WBC officer and that there should be some news very soon. As as soon as I have it I’ll let you know.

• No closure in Kintbury (for now)

Kintbury High Street was to have been closed for about three weeks from this week until early December to allow Gigaclear to install cables. Two of the ward members, Dennis Benneyworth and Denise Gaines, and Kintbury Parish Councillors recently had a meeting with Gigaclear as a result of which I understand that this closure will not be happening until after Christmas. It seems that Gigaclear will be discussing the matter with residents and hopefully coming up with a less intrusive and disruptive schedule than a blanket closure.

I’m not quite sure why such discussions didn’t happen anyway, nor whether WBC as the Highways Authority has the power to insist that they do. I’ll try to find out a bit more about how this all works and report back. Clearly if cables are to be laid the road has to be dug up and Kintbury High Street is, unfortunately, not exactly wide. Hopefully some compromise will be agreed. The other moral of this story is that your ward members and your parish council can get things done. You can find details of all the ward members here: for parish and town council contacts, see the relevant section below.

• Hungerford’s post

On 24 November, I had another email from a Hungerford resident describing the abominable service that they and their neighbours (and therefore probably many other people) are getting from Royal Mail, with deliveries only sometimes happening every seven to tan days, and then not always to the correct address. I’m aware that this has been a problem here, and also in Thatcham, for some time.

I’ll be looking into this further and will have more on this next week. This is another case (see above) where contacting your ward members and the parish or town council is a good idea – they have no responsibility for this but if they know about it there’s a chance they can have a word in the appropriate ear. The more people who complain, the more they’ll know that this is a problem. I’ve also recommended that my correspondent again contact Laura Farris. She did get involved in this a couple of months ago and promised to take some action. More would seem to be needed.