Precept 2025-26
Each year, the Town Council considers its proposed budget for the coming year and assesses the funding that will be required to deliver its services. It is estimated that the Council’s total expenditure in 2025/26 will be £2,368,501. This will be funded from anticipated income of around £1,064,190 from the Council’s income generating activities, £138,552 from the Council’s general reserve, and £1,165,759 from the precept levy on Wokingham Borough Council. This equates to a charge of £106.69 per year for a band D property in Woodley, to deliver the Town Council’s services. This remains the same from the 2024/25 precept level. Income from Woodford Park Leisure Centre, the Oakwood Centre and the community halls has been strong through the year, and we continue to invest in our facilities and services to ensure they remain high quality value for residents. You can find out more about the precept, what the Council spends on your behalf and
the services we provide on our website.
Community Groups working with us
Friends of Woodford Park Woodley Adopt A Street
Haveyou seen how beautiful the flowers look at Woodford Park? Noticed the floral colour in the planters outside the Oakwood Centre? This is thanks to the Friends of Woodford Park who keep these areas looking outstanding. The volunteers work alongside our dedicated grounds team and are there week after week, come rain or shine to help keep the park maintained and in excellent condition for all to enjoy. We would like to say a big thank you to FoWP for their dedication and hard work, as well as their biodiversity tour during our first Climate Action Week. If you would like to join as a volunteer, please contact: fowp.woodley@gmail.com
Members of Woodley Adopt A Street (WASP) work tirelessly to keep the streets of Woodley clean. Indeed, at our Climate Action Week in November, volunteers young and old (including our Town Mayor, Cllr Juliet Anderson) collected over 20 bags of rubbish in very wet and windy conditions. The team participates in the annual Big Clean Up, which is a nationwide initiative organised by Keep Britain Tidy. Thank you to all its volunteers for their hard work. Please help to keep our town tidy and litter free by placing your rubbish in bins or taking it home to dispose of. If you would like to join WASP, please contact: shelagh.flower@googlemail.com
Duck feeding station
We have partnered with The Feed Ducks Initiative to install a Solar Powered Duck Feed Dispenser at Woodford Park Lake. The feeder takes contactless payments (no cash) and dispenses small quantities of healthy feed that is suitable for the diet of ducks and other wildfowl, reducing the amount of foreign feed such as bread, which can make them unwell as it does not contain the right nutrition or calories they need to grow and keep warm. Excess rotting food can also lead to silt build-up in the ecosystem, which can attract vermin and create ideal conditions for disease outbreaks that can threaten biodiversity and wildfowl. The feeder is in line with our climate commitment, as each one is made from recycled plastics, equivalent to 20,000 plastic bottles. The feeder also reduces plastic litter waste because the feed is dispensed to hand. It has been provided for free and is fully maintained by The Feed Ducks Initiative. Ten percent of the proceeds will be donated back to invest in the park.
Recycling bins
New kitchen at
Coronation Hall
Alovely new kitchen has been installed at Coronation Hall! We will replace the kitchen at Chapel Hall later this year.
Contact Us
General enquiries: admin@woodley.gov.uk 0118 9690356
Aspart of our commitment to Climate Action, we are pleased to announce that the bins in Woodford Park and Malone Park have been replaced with new bins containing a recycling section. You can put the same items into the recycled section as you would in your green bags. These include:
• cartons
• plastic bottles & trays (not black)
• paper & card
• empty aerosols
• foil, cans & tins.
Glass items can be recycled at your local bottle bank, while soft plastics can be recycled at most supermarkets. Thank you for keeping our parks and green spaces litter free.
Town Clerk: Kevin Murray townclerk@woodley.gov.uk Recycle the Herald! www.woodley.gov.uk @WoodleyCouncil
Council News
As usual, it has been a busy and productive period for the Council over the last six months. The following highlights some of the work the Council and its committees have been doing.
InFebruary, Council approved its budget and charges for the 2025/26 financial year, determining to maintain precept at the current 2024/25 level in recognition of the ongoing cost of living crisis and financial pressures facing residents. More details of this decision can be found on page 2.
Wheble Park has been a matter for discussion at several meetings in recent months, with Councillors recognising that play equipment in the park would benefit from updating. The Council is now in the process of discussing options for extending our lease of the park, which is owned by Reading Borough Council, with the current lease due to run out in 2031. Once determined, the Council will then develop and consider full costed proposals for improvements.
Since our last Herald issue, the Council has embarked on an exciting project to investigate improvements to the Alan Cornish Theatre. The facility, used mainly by local amateur and children’s theatre and dance groups, requires technical upgrades to bring it up to date, including converting existing incandescent lights to LED to help meet our climate emergency ambitions. Such improvements would also lead to the potential development of a professional programme of theatrical and cinematic events to supplement the theatre’s existing programme - we would like to thank the over 300 residents who took the time to respond to our survey seeking views on this. Next steps are due to be discussed in April.
Following our residents’ consultation during 2024, the Council is now proceeding with plans to explore the expansion and refurbishment of Woodford Park Leisure Centre. As one of the Council’s most well used facilities, the Leisure Centre is now close to capacity. And with some areas of the building over 40 years old, there is a need to undertake works to secure the centre for the future. An organisation, specialising in developing facilities on behalf of local authorities, has been engaged to support the Council in developing initial design proposals, with these due to be presented for discussion by Councillors over the coming months.
The Council’s Cycling & Walking working group are busy developing a new set of Active Travel routes for Woodley. The aim is to set out an appropriate network of routes across the town, suitable for cyclists and walkers, which link in with existing active travel routes and public transport options. Once developed, the group intend to work closely with residents to finalise the details before working with Wokingham Borough Council to feed into existing Borough level initiatives.
Committee Meeting Dates
Strategy & Resources: 22 April, 10 June, 16 September; 8pm Leisure Services: 3 June, 9 September; 8pm Planning & Community: 1 & 29 April, 20 May, 17 June, 22 July, 26 August, 23 September; 7.45pm Full Council: 6 May, 22 May, 24 June, 30 September; 8pm Woodley Town Centre Partnership: 16 April, 16 July; 6.15pm Committee Meetings are held at the Oakwood Centre and all residents are welcome to attend. Meetings are live recorded and available to watch on our YouTube Channel. Please check our website for timings. Contact Matthew Filmore, Deputy Town Clerk for more information, including any access issues: Matthew.Filmore@woodley.gov.uk
Council News
Following receipt of a grant from the Thames Valley Police Crime Commissioner to improve security and reduce crime, the Council will shortly be installing a new CCTV system in Woodley town centre. The extent of the system procured by the Town Council will provide coverage for the main thoroughfare of the precinct, along Crockhamwell Road, with new cameras mounted on existing lamp posts and footage available to both the Town Council and Police, in line with relevant data protection and CCTV policies.
Climate Action Week
Our first Climate Action Week, held in partnership with Wokingham Borough Council and a first for the borough, was a resounding success with over 200 people participating in free events. There were a variety of free events across the week, including a recycling art class for the under 5s, a Walk & Tour of Woodford Park, an entertaining charity fashion show at centre stage in the town centre, Woodley Repair Café, an EV webinar, a chat about climate change in the borough, a lively Fresk climate card game and a community litter pick, amongst others. We were also delighted to host the local primary schools’ climate event at the Oakwood Centre at which Year 3 children from Highwood Primary, Rivermead Primary, and Woodley C of E Primary were tasked with creating posters about the impact of climate change on coral reefs.
We would like to thank everyone involved in helping to create, manage and run a successful week of events; as well as everyone who came along to participate. Cllr Juliet Anderson, Woodley Town Council Town Mayor, who braved the weather to help at the communal litter pick said: “It is important that we all play our part in addressing the climate emergency and take accountability for our individual carbon footprints, and Climate Action Week has been an important week to raise awareness.” While Cllr David Bragg, Woodley Town Council Deputy Mayor said: “I’d like to thank everyone involved in putting the week together and hosting all the events. It has certainly highlighted the need for us all to play our part in tackling climate change.”
Woodley Town Council celebrates 50 years
We are delighted to be celebrating our 50th Anniversary as Woodley Town Council with a retrospective look at the history of Woodley from its original form as a ‘clearing in the woods’, as its name is derived from, to the thriving town we now have. The very earliest information found about Woodley is based on the Historic Environment Record database, which contains over 50 records of artefacts found in the Woodley area, such as flint tools and metal finds, dating from 500,000 years before present to Roman times. Woodley was originally a collection of hamlets in the forest: Woodley Green, Norris Green and Wheelers Green. Some of the land was not forest but heath or marsh, and Bulmershe was where bulls were pastured for bull baiting in Wokingham.
Woodley was part of the parish of Sonning until 1881 and was mentioned in the Domesday Book as part of Sonning: “Osmund Bishop of Sonning holds Sonning in lordship”. While the first reference to Woodley as a separate area was found in the archives of Salisbury cathedral: “Osbertus de Woodleghe holds a dwelling house and yard and is able to pastures his pigs on the Lord of the Manor’s woods.” This is from the Registers of St Osmund, recording a visit to Sonning in 1220. Woodley is also spelled Wodlegh or Wodleyhe in early documents. The first pub, The Chequers, dates back to 1783, while the first church, Christ Church, dates back to 1834. The first recorded shops date back to 1851, and the first school, St John’s C of E school, to 1855. Woodley played significant roles in WWI and WWII and was home to the building of Miles Magister and Miles Master training aircrafts for RAF fighter pilots. Indeed, Pilot Officer Douglas Bader famously crashed at Woodley Airfield.
Woodley and Sandford Parish Council was formed in 1894 and became Woodley Town Council in 1974, when Woodley gained town status following the Local Government Act of that year. This significant legislation restructured local government throughout England and Wales, bringing changes to boundaries as well.
Sincethe formation of Woodley Town Council, we have made great changes to the area, including Woodford Park Leisure Centre, the Oakwood Centre and the theatre; Woodford Park Lake, Garden of Remembrance, the War Memorial, the play area and will soon be opening an orchard garden for all to enjoy. To commemorate the 50th Anniversary, we have worked with the local Woodley u3a to create a History Timeline of Woodley, which will be on display at the Oakwood Centre. The History Wall represents a snapshot of the history of Woodley, dating back to 1086. It includes population figures up to the 2021 Census, as well as noteworthy historical events in Woodley and significant achievements of Woodley Town Council. Please keep an eye on our website and social media pages for news of when it is available for the public to view.
