In this local election, focus on the local issues
Councillors, I am calling on you to make the upcoming local election about local issues .
In previous years your flyers have had input on national issues.
As a local voter I do not want to be told what your parties are fighting or doing on a national level.
If you are struggling I can give you a few pointers.
What is being done about social houses for persons who need them and cannot do affordable
What is happening about social
care
Climate change emergency
Solar panels on new builds from a set date a policy
Solar on council owned buildings Air source heating on new build from a set date a policy
Action on speeding not the stock answer this is a police issue our council needs to work with police to find solutions
Increase of Doctors surgery so we can get a appointment quickly
I am sure readers of Wokingham.Today could add to this list.
Perhaps there are people out without a political bias that would like to be a independent candidate
Rod Needs, Wokingham
On the level
It’s interesting to see the Conservative party and how it operates at national and local level.
At national level, the health secretary is linked to his friend, Alex Bourne, whose expertise is running a pub and his company, Hinpack, miraculously landed a £30 million contract to supply the NHS.
At local leevl, the Conservative-run Wokingham Borough Council has a toxic culture where they don’t speak to or work with other councillors for the good of the borough’s residents.
I question this approach and say it is unhealthy.
How much debt is building up?
How many housing developers are making money in the borough with contracts being signed with friends who are happy to have far too many homes built with too little infrastructure to support the new population moving in?
Conservatives … who’d have them? Who’d vote for them? I won’t.
Re: Cllr Lindsay Ferris’ excellent letter on the Wokingham Borough local plan.
Building 16,000 new homes in the area is of concern but not to greedy developers who would like to see 900 homes per year being built.
Hurst, Shinfield, Charvil, Arborfield, Sindlesham … the list goes on.
Why don’t they ever put in more infrastructure?
It may be we are seeing our local areas change forever.
We need a council really committed to sustainable development and, with the climate emergency in mind, more and more new houses with no local infrastructure put in will not do it.
Greg Bello, Woodley
Reporting noise pollution in your area
There has been a substantial increase in daily industrial noise pollution in some areas of Wokingham that is blighting the lives of residents.
Please report the noise when it is heard and every time it is a nuisance
The contact numbers for the agencies to contact are as follows;
Environment Agency Incident line 0800 807060 (freephone number, all personal data is protected).
Environmental Health 01635 503242
Name and address supplied
Keep picking up
With reference to the article about Tidy Tony's litter picking team (Wokingham.Today, March 18), I do the
same, as do several others, around Keephatch area.
Where I agree it is satisfying it is also very depressing that there is so much litter to pick, and to know our fellow residents or visitors are not disposing of it properly.
Today, within quarter of a mile I collected 20 glass bottles, a sack full of non-recyclable rubbish e.g. sweet wrappers, cups and of course dog’s mess bags), and a whole black box full of cans and plastic bottles for recycling.
I'd much prefer not to have to do this, but I do so to help protect our wildlife, environment, and the planet. I know there's lots that is buried that I miss, and is poisoning our earth and seas, so as a plea to 'whom it may concern' PLEASE take your bottles, cans, wrappers, trays, takeaway cups, dog poo, etc, etc, home with you, and make Wokingham and beyond a safer place to live.
Juliet, Keephatch
(Green bags) Blowin’ in the wind
How many roads must the bags blow down
Bags that cost three hundred grand? How many streets must those green bags sail
Before we all take a stand?
Yes, and how many times must the green bags take flight
Before they're forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.
Yes, and how many years will used green bags persist
In a dump, landfill or the sea?
And how many years must the green bags exist
Before we say they’re idiocy?
Yes, and how many times will the council turn away
And pretend that it just doesn't see? The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind
Cllr Maria Gee, Liberal Democrat Councillor for Wescoמּ Ward, Wokingham Borough Council
30 year anniversary of crisis house
My thirty year history of the Wokingham Crisis House – sequel to my 25 year history – is now published, in time for our March 2021 anniversary.
It is entitled There’s A Place
For Us – Thirty Year History Of The Wokingham Mental Health Crisis House – Told Through Stories And Songs.
This was my original idea –
30 years ago – to create a place of sanctuary.
In Wokingham, you have people who have done very well in life, but say a person’s business begins to fail, his wife dies of cancer, and his only son is killed in a skiing accident – all in the space of a year.
This causes a mental breakdown, and the only place available to him, was the mental hospital.
There, very disturbed patients are slitting their wrists, and bleeding all over the place; they are screaming in their distress.
Such a person can get his life back on track, given a place of quiet tranquility – hence the Wokingham Crisis House.
One such person features in both my books, because he illustrated the point, so perfectly.
This man’s business started to fail, and his marriage broke down – both within a short space of time, so he attempted suicide.
He was Sectioned into the mental hospital, and when he saw the terribly ill, and broken down patients, around him, he feared that he would end up in the same state.
Under the Mental Health Act, alternative places must be considered, by law, so he begged for somewhere else, and was brought to the crisis house.
He stayed for exactly one year. In those days he could park his van outside Station House, so he quickly reestablished his business contacts in Wokingham.
He found a new partner – out in the normal world, and eventually they moved into a flat, together, fully restored to health, and with his business flourishing, once again.
There’s A Place For Us – a most romantic title song, from West Side Story.
Other of the 120 songs that enliven my narrative, are somewhat less romantic – such as – You’ve Got To Have Something In The Bank, Frank!
My Thirty Year History is on Amazon, and is available, price £11.99, from the Publishers, The June Press,
P.O Box 119, Totnes, Devon. TQ9 7WA. Telephone – 08456 120175. E-mail – info@junepress.com
Pam Jenkinson, The Wokingham
Crisis House
Poetry corner extra: The Census 2021
I’ve just completed the Census A marathon On Line for me I was glad to get it finished Then relax with a cup of tea.
The details I was asked for Kept me busy for some time. At last all questions answered And none did I decline.
I hope you’ve done your Census
It’s a task we’ve all to do
And if I’ve been able to do it
I’m sure you’re able too.
Jim Horsnell, Wokingham
Living with breast cancer
Living with or beyond breast cancer is never easy – treatment, scans and the physical and mental impacts can take their toll.
Entering the first national lockdown a year ago today, people affected by breast cancer faced additional challenges, such as appointments and treatments being paused or cancelled, and at a time of social isolation and separation from loved ones.
As a Clinical Nurse Specialist on Breast Cancer Now’s Helpline, I hear daily how the pandemic has exacerbated an already worrying and uncertain time for people affected by breast cancer.
That’s why, when Covid-19 paused our face-to-face events and courses, we rapidly moved our services online, so that we could continue to be there for people who we know need our support now more than ever – our Online Services mean we’re one click away for anyone, at any time, following a breast cancer diagnosis.
Thanks to support received from players of People’s Postcode Lottery, our Moving Forward Online courses help people adjust to life after hospital treatment, offering specialist information and the chance to connect in a safe space with others who understand.
Through Younger Women
Together Online, women aged up to 45 join small groups to meet and hear from experts on issues including treatment, fertility, exercise, and mental health.
For people living with incurable secondary breast cancer, we know how valuable it is to connect with others who share similar uncertainties and challenges, so our Living With Secondary
Breast Cancer Online course is available 24/7, offering emotional wellbeing support and information.
No-one should face breast cancer alone; we’re always here, via our Helpline and our Online Services. Sign up now: breastcancernow.org/online-services
Rachel Rawson, Breast Cancer Now Clinical Nurse Specialist