Fears over future of squash courts, a round of bin-go, and parking troubles
FURIOUS members of a Wokingham squash club threatened with losing their only venue told council bosses: “Don’t take us for fools”.
They fear the Borough has already decided to close St. Crispin’s Leisure Centre, and discussions over its future are more of a con than a consultation.
Fifty members of the club play at the two squash courts at the Norreys based centre – which are also open to the public – seven days a week as part of a league system.
Club member Nick Dyer warned if the centre closes it would leave members with nowhere to play across Wokingham.
“This is our last chance to keep squash as an active sport in the whole borough,” he said. “When the three courts at Loddon Valley were closed a few years ago, we were assured those at St Crispin’s would be kept. Now those are under threat and we are not optimistic about their future.
“We suspect the council has already decided to close the centre despite instigating a consultation period.”
Wokingham Borough Council defended its decision to increase parking charges, due to drop in income, despite figures that show the number of car park ticket sales has increased.
Conservative councillor Keith Baker published charts showing sales had been higher last year than at any time in the past 20 years. The council says income has fallen, while costs have risen.
The figures show the authority sold some 1,290,370 parking tickets in the 2022/23 financial year, more than 200,000 up on the year before, which was affected by covid measures, and higher than the 978,095 sold in 2019-20 – the last financial year before the first lockdown.
Cllr Paul Fishwick, the executive member for
Active Travel, Transport and Highways, said there had been changes such as the introduction of free vend tickets for blue badge holders. “There have been some recent changes to how we charge in our car parks which mean that the increase has not resulted in a corresponding rise in income,” he explained.
Across Wokingham, overflowing bins have been left unemptied, bottles of urine and bags full of dog’s mess left next to them. A coffee cup placed on top of one makes it look like an Avant Garde art installation rather than a resident acting in desperation, unable to deposit their waste.
Other bins have been covered over, but residents have been ripping the covers and waste flows freely out of them. In high summer, the smell of rotting waste lingers in the air, with some residents saying the pong is an unwelcome guest in their homes.
This is bin-go, Wokingham Borough Council’s cost-saving operation to save £700,000 over three years, as the squeeze on council finances continues, with £600,000 coming from changes to bins, cleaning around bottle banks, and weed spraying.
A further £100,000 would be saved from reducing the number of grass cuts from six a year to four, except for parks, and sightlines on grass verges.
A user of a former gym in Wokingham that closed last month did not have to pay for non-existent services thanks to help from Wokingham Today.
John Branigan contacted us after we highlighted the demise of the Anytime Fitness franchise business in Peach Street in June.
He explained how he had paid an annual fee for membership earlier this year through his company, and was worried he would have to continue to pay until the end of his contract next year.