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.

Have your say on proposals to open new facilities for children with special educational needs


We are consulting until Friday 24 February on plans to open new facilities for children with special educational needs, which will allow more children with special educational needs to attend a local school. 


We would like your feedback on plans to create an Early Years School Readiness Hub at The Lawns Nursery School, in Windsor, and to establish up to four more Resource Bases attached to mainstream schools in Maidenhead and Windsor. The funding for the proposed new facilities comes from a government grant.


For further details and to take part, visit our online consultation webpage.


To learn more, please read our press release.

Give us your views on plan to upgrade A308 junction in Windsor to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists


You are invited to have your say on our proposal to upgrade a mini roundabout on the A308 in Clewer, Windsor to a new signal-controlled junction, improving road safety for pedestrians and cyclists.


The scheme at the A308’s junction with Mill Lane and Parsonage Lane would see the creation of a new cycle optimised protected signals, or ‘Cyclops’, junction.


The new design would completely separate those travelling on foot and by bicycle from vehicles, reducing the possibility of collisions or conflict at a junction where there have been several incidents over the years. It will also be easier for pedestrians to get where they need to be in fewer stages due to shorter crossing times and more space to wait than at most junctions.


Two drop-in events for people to find out more will be held at The Swan pub in Mill Lane, Clewer on:


  • Monday 16 January – 5pm to 6.30pm
  • Monday 30 January – 5pm to 6.30pm


All feedback will be considered when helping to finalise the design, and before any decisions are made. If the development proceeds, work is anticipated to start in early summer.


For full details and to respond to the consultation, please visit the RBWM Together website before the Sunday 5 February deadline.


Read our press release to learn more.

Reminder: There is still time to share your views on our proposed budget


Thank you to everyone who has taken part in a public consultation on our draft budget proposals. 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 national 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, please visit the RBWM Together website.

 

Read our press release to learn more.

Have your say at our Place Overview and Scrutiny budget challenge session

 

Come and have your say on the budget and all things that fall under the Place Directorate at our Place Overview and Scrutiny session at 5.30pm on Wednesday 25 January.


Whether it’s about planning, neighbourhoods, transport, or infrastructure, we are encouraging you to discuss what you think about the draft budget proposals in the Royal Borough.


If you would like to register to speak at the meeting, please email [email protected] before 5pm, two working days prior. Alternatively, you can watch the meeting on our YouTube channel to follow the proceedings live.

Celebrate the Lunar New Year in Maidenhead


Celebrate the Year of the Rabbit in Maidenhead High Street on Saturday 28 January at 1pm by watching a lion dance, traditionally performed to bring prosperity and good luck for the upcoming year.


The dance will also feature drumming and energetic performances by teenagers and adults from the Maidenhead-based Eagle Claw Kung Fu School.


There will also be a free family craft event inspired by the Lunar New Year. The drop-in event, run by the Craft Coop, will take place in the Nicholsons Shopping Centre from 10am to 12.30pm on Saturday 21 January.


For more information, please visit the Make Maidenhead Facebook page.

World Café is coming to Furze Platt


Our next World Cafe will be in Furze Platt ward on Saturday 21 January, from 10.30am to 12.30pm.


There’s no need to book in advance, simply pop along to Furze Platt War Memorial Hall, Furze Platt Road, Maidenhead SL6 7NG.


Come along and have a cuppa and an informal chat with community representatives to identify solutions to respond as a community to the rising cost of living.


Our Royal Borough World Cafés are free informal networking events where you can have open conversations about what matters most to you, find out about relevant support, and mingle with fellow residents and local groups.


For more details visit the RBWM Together website.

Your first step to a healthier you


Our public health campaign for January, which is all about making small changes to your lifestyle to boost your health and wellbeing, has continued on our social media platforms this week.

 

We’ve shared tips including:



 

Make sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook to stay up to date with our campaign.

Respect your local countryside


If you’re out enjoying a winter walk in some of the beautiful rural areas the Royal Borough has to offer, please remember to:


  • Always keep dogs under control and on a lead, including around livestock
  • Be considerate to those living and working in the countryside
  • Leave gates and property as you find them
  • Follow local signs and keep to marked paths unless wider access is available
  • Take your litter home


Read the Countryside Code for more information.

How do you use the web?


As more and more services move online we need to understand why some residents aren't accessing them this way, whether that's because it's a struggle to afford internet access, data or a device, such as a laptop or phone, they aren't confident or they don't feel safe online.


We also want to understand what people can do online, whether that's ordering food and gifts, online learning and job searching, or contacting friends and family or a healthcare professional.


Sharing your views and experiences with us, or helping someone who may not usually go online to do so, will help us understand where and how we need to focus resources to improve services and provide solutions.


We'd also like to know if your habits have changed since the pandemic e.g. has the amount of time you spend on the internet or streaming TV shows increased, or you have become more confident using online services such as banking or booking travel or holidays?


What people can, and can't, do online is important to us and we want to hear about it.


If you'd like to share your experiences with us, please complete the online survey, which should only take up to 10 minutes, before the Sunday 19 February deadline.

Calling all local businesses - sign up for the Better Futures Business Event


To build even stronger support for our young people with a care background, Achieving for Children Virtual College, alongside The Care Covenant and John Lewis, will be delivering the Better Futures Business Event at Moor Hall, Cookham on Wednesday 22 February.


The aim of the event is to support local businesses to understand the benefits linked to supporting our young people in care.


If you run a local business and would like to attend or find out more, please email [email protected]

Royal Borough Community Spotlight


Here are just some of the upcoming community events in the Royal Borough:


  • Art behind bars (Monday 16 January, 11.30am) – Baylis Theatre, Braywick Leisure Centre. This month’s moving, informative and very original lecture from The Arts Society Maidenhead explores The Role of the Arts in Breaking the Cycle of Crime, Prison and Reoffending. £10 for non-members (free with advert from the Maidenhead Advertiser). Please email [email protected] to learn more


  • 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 [email protected] 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


  • 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


  • Handel’s Messiah (Saturday 28 January, 7pm) – St Luke’s Church, Maidenhead. Marlow Community Choir presents Handel’s Messiah. Tickets are £16 and can be booked on the Marlow Community Choir website or bought at the door


  • Paper, Paper Everywhere (Monday 13 to Friday 17 February, 9.30am to 12.30pm) – Cookham Library community room. In the February half term, WildCookham is organising an Environmental art project for families to create an exhibit for the Our Changing Earth festival on Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 June. To register, visit the Our Changing Earth website


  • Friendship: The perfect blendship (Saturday 18 February, 7pm) – St Nicholas Church, Taplow. Explore the facts and myths around the show Anything Goes. Learn more about Cole Porter, try your hand at a trivia quiz and even sing along! Supporting the ‘Friends of St Nicolas Church, Taplow’ and led by the church organist, Neil Matthews with members of the Maidenhead Musical Comedy Society and their friends. Tickets £10 available on the church website


  • Painting With Wool workshop (Saturday 11 March, 10am to 4pm) – Cookham Library community room. WildCookham is organising a Painting With Wool workshop to create a piece of artwork to exhibit in the Our Changing Earth festival. Register on the Our Changing Earth website


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 [email protected] 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.

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.

Local Travel Updates


Shopmobility


Since the closure of the Nicholsons car park for health and safety reasons, we have been working with People to Places to find a solution for Shopmobility services. From today (Friday 13 January), Shopmobility service will re-open its doors at unit 69/71, Queens Walk Mall, at the Nicholsons Centre.


There is no parking provision on-site at the new location, however, the Brock Street entrance to the centre can be used as a drop-off point for those unable to walk from the town’s other car parks. The nearest disabled parking bays are on Queen Street.



Rail


Planned engineering works are taking place on the South Western Railway network tomorrow (Saturday 14) and Sunday 15 January which will cause disruption to local 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 about local services.

Keep in touch


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