Please share with friends, family and neighbours in the borough so they can keep up to date. Sign up here if you've received a forwarded copy.
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Reminder: There is still time to share your views on draft budget proposals
Thank you to everyone who has so far taken part in our public consultation on the draft budget proposals for the council. You have until Tuesday 24 January to share your views if haven’t done so already.
Coupled with an increasing demand for some services, especially provisions for our most vulnerable residents such as social care and housing, we have reviewed all services to ensure they are run as effectively as possible and provide value for money.
We remain focused on delivering a sustainable borough of opportunity and innovation, and on our Corporate Plan priorities. Despite the proposed change to council tax, the Royal Borough will continue to have one of the lowest council tax rates in the country.
Your feedback will help inform discussions when the draft budget is debated and council tax is set at Full Council in February 2023.
To take part in the consultation, which opened on Tuesday 13 December, please visit the RBWM Together website before the deadline.
Read our press release to learn more.
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Helping those in need with the rising cost of living
Our ‘Here to Help’ campaign is continuing to highlight the latest local and national support that can help residents struggling with the rising cost of living.
Here to Help brings together a range of cost of living support from the council and our various partners onto one dedicated webpage, covering energy and water bills, rent, council tax, food, childcare, school meals, benefits and more.
We’re also promoting a growing network of safe, warm spaces where people in need can go this winter. Several partner organisations are offering safe, warm spaces, along with advice and support. All local libraries are also safe places for the community.
As part of this campaign, we’re using the government’s Household Support Fund to help vulnerable households most in need this winter, those in severe financial hardship who are having to make very difficult choices around household expenditure, such as between heating and eating.
To target the limited national funding, nine frontline distribution partners are identifying those residents in greatest need to receive a one-off cash payment of £145. Those residents will also be supported to explore further cost of living help that might be available to them.
Learn more about the Household Support Fund in our press release or visit our website. Residents are not able to apply to the council directly, and need to be identified by one of our listed partners.
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Community group gets green light to prepare Neighbourhood Plan for Maidenhead
We have given the green light for a community group to start preparing a draft Neighbourhood Plan to help guide future development across Maidenhead’s unparished areas.
Neighbourhood Plans allow communities to put in place planning policies for a specific neighbourhood area, adding detail to the policies already set in the Borough Local Plan. They are used to help decide planning applications.
Last year, the Maidenhead Neighbourhood Forum community group applied to designate all seven of Maidenhead’s unparished wards as one neighbourhood area, and to formally designate the group itself as a neighbourhood forum for the purposes of preparing a Neighbourhood Plan for Maidenhead.
Following a six-week public consultation, our Planning Department has agreed to the group’s proposals. This decision allows the group to start the process of community engagement and consultation to shape a draft Neighbourhood Plan covering the wards of Belmont, St Mary’s, Riverside, Furze Platt, Pinkneys Green, Boyn Hill, and Oldfield.
Read our press release to learn more.
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Multi-storey closed for important work
At the weekend, it was necessary to close Nicholsons car park at short notice in the interests of health and safety, due to an area of overhead concrete that required swift assessment and remedial action.
On a sensible, precautionary basis, the car park has stayed closed to undertake technical condition assessment of all levels, and the requirement for further remedial work has been identified. The car park will remain fully closed while contractors commence further assessment works next week, initially prioritising the two lowest floors to see what is required to re-open those levels to Shopmobility users and blue badge holders.
We apologise again for the inconvenience of this closure, which is required in order to undertake this important work. Alternative parking is available at Hines Meadow and other car parks. For options, please visit our website.
There is no pedestrian access to the Nicholsons Centre via the car park from this weekend. Users are kindly asked to use alternative entrances to the centre.
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Get Around for £2 - Make the most of bus fare savings
A new scheme has been launched allowing you to save on bus fares and travel around the borough for no more than £2 for a single journey on many routes.
Local bus operators Thames Valley Buses, Reading Buses, Red Eagle Buses, Arriva and First Bus are part of the national Department for Transport scheme, which runs until Friday 31 March.
You can learn more in the press release which also includes a link to all the routes where you can save.
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Do you know your next bin collection date?
As we welcome the New Year, many of us have lots of rubbish and recycling from the festive period to dispose of.
Bin collection days are slightly different during the weeks after Christmas, returning to normal on Monday 16 January, so make sure you know when your next collection date is by checking our website. Please also ensure that your bins are out before 7am.
We’re also encouraging everyone to continue recycling as much as possible. Whether it's glass jars, drinks cans or Christmas cards, there will be lots you can recycle. For a full list of what can and can’t be recycled, please visit our Recycling Waste page. Extra rubbish or recycling can be taken to our Stafferton Way Household Waste and Recycling Centre.
Please also don’t forget to recycle your real Christmas tree. Chop up your tree into your green bin if you have one or take it to the household recycling centre, or a tree collection point. Please visit our disposing of your real Christmas tree page to find out more.
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Reminder: Applications for September 2023 reception and junior school places closing soon
If your child was born between 1 September 2018 and 31 August 2019,
you have until Sunday 15 January to apply for a school reception place for September this year.
If your child was born between 1 September 2015 and 31 August 2016 and is
currently attending an infant school, you should apply for a junior school
place by the same deadline.
More information about how to apply and key dates to remember can be found
on our website.
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Your first step to a healthier you
Our public health campaign for January, running on our social media platforms this month, is all about making small changes to your lifestyle to boost your health and wellbeing.
Inspired by the quote, ‘A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step’, the campaign encourages you to take one step at a time towards your goals and not be overawed by the task ahead of you.
All the simple tips are also backed up by scientific evidence allowing you to see the logic behind the advice presented in the campaign.
Advice such as trying drink-free days, quitting smoking, dancing at home, and knowing your five a day fruit and vegetables are simple steps to help you feel healthier and happier in 2023. Each tip also signposts you to the evidence behind it as well as where to find more information and support.
Make sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook to stay up to date with our campaign.
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Reminder: Last chance to share your views on our plan to deliver electric vehicle charging infrastructure
You have until next Monday (9 January) to have your say on a plan outlining how we will bring forward hundreds more charging points for electric vehicles, to support the move to greener travel.
Thank you to everyone who has already had their say on the draft Electric Vehicle Chargepoint Implementation. For full details and to respond to the five-week consultation, visit the RBWM Together website.
Read our press release to learn more. This consultation opened at the start of December.
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Sign up for free weight management support
If you’re aged over 18, live in the Royal Borough and have a body max index of 30 or higher (27.5 and above for selected ethnic groups), you can now access a new free weight management service launched this week.
Maintaining a healthy weight is crucial for both your physical health and mental wellbeing. If you’re overweight, you’re more likely to suffer from a stroke and heart attack than others of your age, as well as medical conditions such as type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers including breast and bowel. Weight issues can also link to depression and anxiety.
The new adult weight management programme, run by Everyone Health on our behalf, offers 12 weeks of support, a nutrition workshop, physical activities, plus options to better understand food choices to find tasty, small changes to help you lose weight for good.
For more details visit the Everyone Health webpage or read our press release.
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Do you pay business rates?
If you run a business and are liable for business rates, please be aware that rateable values are changing nationally from Saturday 1 April 2023.
Revaluation is a review of the rateable values of all non-domestic properties in England and Wales carried out by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA). This normally happens every three years.
Rateable values are the amount of rent a property could have been let for on a set valuation date and are used to calculate business rates bills. For the 2023 valuation, that date was Thursday 1 April 2021.
You can see your future valuation and get an estimate of what your business rates bill will be from Saturday 1 April 2023, on the Government’s business rates webpage.
If your business premises have changed, or if you think the value is too high, you will need to contact the VOA and not us. You will need a Business Rates Valuation Account to do this.
Read more about the changes to business rates on the Valuation Office website.
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Watch council meetings live on our YouTube channel
Did you know you can watch council meetings live on our YouTube channel?
All our public meetings are livestreamed for you to watch wherever you are. If you miss a livestream, don’t worry as all streamed meetings are available to watch for two years.
If you are interested in a particular item from a livestream, you don’t have to watch the whole meeting anymore. Now you can simply check the description of each livestream recording to see when the item you are interested in was discussed.
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Royal Borough Community Spotlight
Here are just some of the upcoming community events in the Royal Borough:
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Sign up for upcoming WEA-Oxford University Study Day (Monday 16 January, 10.15am to 4pm) - Norden Farm, Maidenhead. A study day on Struggles for Freedom: African American history from the 17th to 20th Century. Visit the Oxford University website for more information or email Steph Diggon at weamhead@gmail.com
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Table-top sale (Sunday 22 January, 10am to 2pm) – Village Hall, Moneyrow Green, Holyport. Holyport Community Trust is holding a table-top sale where you can either pick up a bargain or make some extra cash by selling off unwanted Christmas presents and anything else you need to declutter. Free entry; £10 a table for sellers. Email gill.hudson@holyportcommunitytrust.org if you want to reserve a table. Tea, coffee, cakes, and bacon butties will also be on sale. Visit the Holyport Community Trust website for more information
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Snow White and the Spaceman (Friday 27 January at 7.30pm and Saturday 28 January at 2pm and 7pm) – St Mark’s Crescent Methodist Church, Maidenhead. A pantomime production by the Broken Shoestring Theatre Group. Tickets are £10 for adults, £6 for under 16’s and under five’s go free. Book and learn more on the Ticket Source website
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Handel’s Messiah (Saturday 28 January, 7pm) – St Luke’s Church, Maidenhead. Marlow Community Choir present Handel’s Messiah. Tickets are £16 and can be booked on the Marlow Community Choir website or bought at the door
If you have an upcoming not-for-profit community event or activity you’d like to promote in this newsletter, simply send basic information about your event to communications@rbwm.gov.uk and it could be shared with more than 21,000 local residents.
You just need to include a brief description, when and where it takes place, and a link to a website/social media page/contact where people can find out more.
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Have your say
We regularly hold consultations and surveys to get your views on proposals within the Royal Borough.
Participating, sharing ideas and giving your feedback is the best way to ensure your views are heard.
Our current consultations are:
More information can be found on the consultations pages of our website.
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Local Travel Updates
There are planned strikes by the RMT union which are likely to cause local rail travel disruption taking place today (Friday 6 January) and tomorrow (Saturday 7 January). For the latest strike information, please visit the Great Western Railway and South Western Railway websites.
There are planned engineering works taking place on the South Western Railway network on Sunday (8 January) which will impact local rail services.
Further engineering works will also close the line between Windsor and Staines from Saturday 11 to Sunday 19 February. A replacement bus service will operate during this time. Please visit the South Western Railway website for more information.
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