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Thursday, March 24 - Wednesday, March 30, 2016
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SCRAP OR SAVE? Council set to decide tonight what cuts to approve
Egg-stra special treat at Newbury Dogs Trust
DOGS in West Berkshire will be sniffing out a treat this Easter. Hamstead Marshall-based
See page 10 for full story. charity Dogs Trust Newbury Easter celebrations. is hosting a special Easter Biscuits will be hidden egg hunt for its pooches to inside coloured eggs for the • Bruno the Terrier on the hunt for eggs allow them to join in with the dogs to discover.
Easter at Parkway 25 March – 2 April
Visit our Toy Workshop 11am – 4.30pm (closed Easter Sunday) Newbury Bid’s Giant Easter Egg Hunt Meet Minions – Sat 2 April
RESIDENTS will discover which of their services will be scrapped, face budget reductions or will be saved when West Berkshire Council finalises its budget this evening. Libraries, children’s centres, theatres and public transport will all be on the agenda as councillors prepare to make the fi nal approval to the authority’s 2016/17 budget. West Berkshire Council has been looking at making savings after fi nding out its funding from central Government would be cut by £17.5million – 44 per cent of what it receives. On March 1 the fi rst round of cuts were confi rmed, with 37 proposals being adopted. The consultation for phase two ended on March 7 with 7,278 responses being received by the council, of which 4,981 responded to questionnaires attached to the 16 proposals. This equated to 2,307 comments relating to libraries, 1,619 for theatres, 327 for public transport and 308 for children’s centres. However last week the council announced it was planning to use the remaining £1m of transitional funding it received from Government to lessen the impact of the phase two cuts. This included reversing a proposal to close all but one of the district’s libraries, although Wash Common and Theale’s
By Adam Flinn services would still be lost. Money was also allocated for public transport, the Corn Exchange, children’s centres, neighbourhood wardens, the domestic abuse response team and the Citizens Advice Bureau. Writing in the pre-meeting report, the council’s head of strategic support Andy Day said: “The consultation exercise generated a great deal of feedback from the public. “It has been agreed that the transitional funding, which is only available for two years, should be used in order to respond to the concerns of the residents of West Berkshire. “Any funding allocated should be on the basis of that service transitioning to a new model of operation over the course of the next two years. “The essential duty placed on decision makers is that they must keep the welfare of service users at the forefront of their mind, but also families, and especially their families who are most disadvantaged.” Alan Macro, leader of the opposition on West Berkshire Council, said that while he was pleased with the funding for the libraries, he was concerned about the potential loss of Theale’s service, as he is also the ward member for the village. VË Í ÖjÄË Ë¬?~jËÏ
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