Broadsheet Article Feb 2024

Councillors

Yattendon Parish Council (YPC) is really pleased to welcome James Hole to the council. We are sure he will be a great addition to the team. The council still has one vacancy which we would love to fill! If you live in the parish of Yattendon (this includes Burnt Hill), or within 3 miles of its borders, and would be interested in joining, please do contact our Clerk, Sarah, at YattendonParish@gmail.com.

Budget

At the November meeting, YPC set its budget and precept for the 2024/25 financial year. The precept has been set at £12,228, which is an increase of 8.3% to meet rising costs. A Band D household will pay a total of £70.62 for the year.

A recent consultation held by West Berkshire Council (WBC) has highlighted that WBC is looking to reduce services by reducing or removing the provision of litter and dog waste bins, the cleansing of gullies and the cutting of verges. It should be noted that the bins owned by WBC are 1 on Church Lane and 2 on Yattendon Lane, all other bins are currently maintained by YPC and will remain. Once the results of this consultation are known, YPC may need to make decisions on whether it will take on the financial costs to cover any of these services.

Traffic and Speeding

YPC has agreed to request West Berkshire Council review whether a 20mph speed limit could be implemented within Yattendon from near the Village Hall through The Square. YPC will collect some more data using the speed indicator device (SID) to support this before making this request.

Play Area

Some members of the parish, including a representative from YPC, are discussing the possibility of installing a play area with associated parking within the village. It is currently very early days in this project, with many hurdles to jump before this can go ahead, and we will carry out community engagement to ensure the idea is supported.

Next Meeting

The next meeting takes place on Thursday 22nd February at 8pm in the Village Hall. All residents of the parish are welcome to join us. The agenda will be available on our website and the noticeboard outside the Village Hall a few days beforehand.