Hermitage Village

West Berkshire Council has today launched a set of draft proposals of measures to help the public safely make walking or cycling trips part of their daily travel choices, and is inviting feedback from the community to help shape these plans.  The public consultations can be viewed and commented upon via the Council’s new Active Travel consultation platform: 
https://westberksatschemes.commonplace.is/

Designed to encourage ‘active travel’ by introducing more walking and cycling opportunities throughout the district, the draft proposals include:

• West Berks Local Cycling & Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP). This emerging draft transport policy is about making streets work for everyone, thus helping to make West Berkshire a better place to live, work and visit.
• Crown Mead Cycleways. The emerging LCWIP has identified the A4 as a primary route with high potential for increased cycle trips if appropriate infrastructure were to be provided.
• Western Avenue Cycleways. The A4 Western Avenue in Speen, Newbury has been identified as a high priority corridor for cycling and walking routes. The plan proposes permanent measures to create and improve travel routes for cyclists and pedestrians.
• West Berks Active Streets. These are various smaller scheme draft plans to help improve facilities and grow walking and cycling opportunities in West Berkshire including proposals for restricted access on Lawrence’s Lane and Deadman’s Lane in Thatcham and Theale respectively. In addition, if any resident would like to submit a specific walking and cycling proposal of their own, or comment on a location which falls outside of the currently identified schemes, they can do so via the Active Travel Heat Map within the West Berks Active Streets section of consultation portal.
• Calcot Schools Streets. This pilot School Zone/School Street Scheme is designed to make the streets around the schools safer and suitable for more walking and cycling, as well as improve the air quality.

Councillor Richard Somner, Executive Member for Transport and Countryside at West Berkshire Council, said:

“Our Active Travel schemes are designed to enhance the safety of pedestrians and cyclists, including children and adults alike. They will also promote health and wellbeing for residents; improve the environment, air quality and sustainability; and play a key role in COVID-19 economic recovery plans.

“We encourage residents to take to part in shaping our plans by registering onto our specially-dedicated online consultation platform. The platform has been designed to make it easy for participants to read the proposals, provide views, and engage in discussions around each of the schemes.”

The Active Travel consultation platform enables the general public to read and comment upon detailed concept plans and various information related to the schemes, including maps. Some of the consultations feature visual sliders to demonstrate a “before and after” scenario to help residents understand any changes being proposed. Several opinion surveys will be held within the platform throughout the course of the consultations to gauge further feedback from the community.

The Crown Mead Cycleways and Western Avenue Cycleways proposals are each open for consultation until on Friday, 9 April. The remainder are eight week consultations that will finish on Friday, 23 April.

With the exception of the LWCIP, the implementation of the Active Travel proposals will be funded through the £495,000 award from the Department for Transport’s Active Travel Fund, following the Council’s bid to further develop a lasting, safe environment for walking and cycling.

With their emphasis on promoting health and wellbeing, maintaining a green district and enhancing sustainability, the proposals support the local authority’s Council Strategy 2019 – 2023, Environment Strategy 2020 – 2030, Health and Wellbeing Strategy, Local Transport Plan 2011 – 2026, and the Covid-19 Recovery Strategy.

West Berkshire Council is committed to encouraging active travel by introducing more walking and cycling opportunities throughout the district.

The council is taking action to help the public safely make walking or cycling trips part of their daily travel choices. Please select any of the below identified schemes, to learn more about the scheme and provide feedback on the measures we have put in place. Some schemes are not yet defined so a great opportunity to make your feelings known at the early planning stages.

Walks in Hermitage

West Berkshire Council is introducing a Covid Marshall Scheme for an initial period of three months. At the outset, eight Covid Marshalls will begin working across the district. They are part of the Public Protection Service, helping people to stay informed about the latest government guidance and providing advice on Covid-19 restrictions. The aim is to help keep everyone safe by ensuring people aren’t inadvertently breaking any rules.

It is expected that the Covid Marshalls – who will be highly visible when out on the streets of West Berkshire – will be in post by the middle of February. They will work shifts to cover seven days a week. The cost will be met by Covid-19 funding provided to the Council by central government. This new service will continue to provide support up to and beyond the easing of lockdown restrictions.

The Covid Marshalls will have local knowledge and travel across the district. Priority areas will be Covid testing sites, supermarkets and places where local residents shop, markets, parks and open spaces. They will engage with the public and businesses about any concerns they may have. They will also hand out face coverings when necessary.

The officers will also support local businesses by ensuring that they are avoiding bottle-necks by operating effective one-way systems. 

Councillor Hilary Cole, West Berkshire Council’s Executive Member for Public Protection said:

“We are pleased to welcome Covid Marshalls to our district.  They will engage with our residents and local businesses, providing yet another way to help people stay up to date with government guidelines around living safely during the pandemic. Guidance changes over time, so it’s good to know that these officers are out in our community helping us stay safe.”

Covid Marshalls will not have any enforcement powers but, instead, will work closely with public protection staff and Thames Valley Police, who will pick up any enforcement related matters.

They will also provide regular activity reports back to the Council’s Covid response management team in order to help prioritise future efforts to protect the community. 

• Community testing initiative to launch to drive down transmission rates
• Testing to begin in West Berkshire to help protect people most at risk, using rapid turnaround tests supplied by NHS Test and Trace.

The community testing initiative, in partnership with the Department of Health and Social Care, is launching at Highwood Copse Primary School in Newbury, to help drive down transmission rates.

Around one in three people who are infected with Covid-19 have no symptoms so could be spreading the disease without knowing it. Broadening testing to identify those showing no symptoms will mean finding positive cases more quickly, and break chains of transmission.

With its targeted approach, community testing aims to reduce the prevalence of the virus in the highest risk areas.

West Berkshire Council will receive a batch of 24,000 lateral flow tests as part of a new pilot to enable local public health leaders to start testing critical and key workers.

Testing will be available for asymptomatic individuals, critical and key workers from Monday 8 February. Those eligible for appointments will be contacted directly and provided with a booking link. 

All efforts to find people without symptoms work hand in hand with the existing free testing service for those with symptoms. Anyone with one or more of these symptoms: a high temperature, a new, continuous cough, or a loss or change to sense of smell or taste should book a test at nhs.uk/coronavirus or by calling 119.

West Berkshire Council is looking to set up four testing sites in total in the coming weeks to the East and West of the district to facilitate testing of as many key and critical workers as possible to protect those who live and work within West Berkshire. 

There is one PCR test centre in the area which is open seven days a week:

Newbury Showground – Priors Court, Hermitage, Thatcham, RG18 9QZ. Testing must be booked in advance.

Cllr Lynne Doherty, Leader of West Berkshire Council, said:

“Providing community testing in West Berkshire will help to limit the transmission of Covid-19 and give people the confidence to go about their work knowing that they are reducing the risk of spreading the virus to people who are more vulnerable than themselves.

“I urge critical and key workers to take up the invitation to have testing done and see this process as another part of our defence against Covid-19.”

Nick Carter, Chief Executive Officer of West Berkshire Council, said:

“West Berkshire Council is expected to open four testing centres in the East and West of the District soon and I am confident that they will play a crucial role in keeping critical and key workers, plus the wider community, safe against the virus.”

Health Minister, Lord Bethell, said:

“We’ve already come so far since first setting up a national testing programme at an unprecedented pace to help counter COVID-19, but we continue to strive to go further, faster.

“Around one in three people have the virus without symptoms so could be spreading the disease without knowing it. Broadening testing to identify those showing no symptoms will mean finding positive cases more quickly, and break chains of transmission.

“I’m delighted that West Berkshire Council are working with us roll out community testing in Newbury, and I look forward to seeing the results.”

Baroness Dido Harding, Interim Executive Chair of the National Institute for Health Protection, said:

“NHS Test and Trace continues to play a leading role in the fight against COVID-19. Increased community testing is a vital additional tool at our disposal to help identify those who are infected and infectious, but unaware that they might be spreading the disease.

“The work of West Berkshire Council in West Berkshire will be essential in driving down transmission rates. I urge all those living in areas where community testing is offered to come forward and get tested.”

ENDS

• On 9 November the Prime Minister announced that lateral flow tests will be sent out by NHS Test and Trace to local public health leaders to enable local teams to direct and deliver testing based on their local knowledge. And with nearly 1.5 million lateral flow test kits delivered to 90 local authorities across all levels of tier restrictions to date, locally led testing is already underway across the country. 
• This offer of a regular supply of lateral flow tests is available to local authorities in all tiers, and we are committed to providing lateral flow tests to all Directors of Public Health who want them, regardless of which other testing schemes they are participating in. 
• The community testing programme is in addition to that initial roll out of lateral flow devices to Directors of Public Health announced on 9 November but is targeted specifically for areas with high case rates. 
• The government has also committed to providing the devolved administrations with an allocation of lateral flow tests as they are made available, as part of UK-wide collaboration to stop the spread of the virus. 
• See latest testing statistics here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-the-public 
• Lateral flow tests are a new kind of technology that can be used to test a higher proportion of asymptomatic people, better enabling us to identify and isolate more people at risk of spreading virus, and break chains of transmission. Lateral flow devices do not require a laboratory to process the test. Extensive clinical evaluation from Public Health England and the University of Oxford show lateral flow tests are accurate and sensitive to be deployed for mass testing, including for asymptomatic people.

Many congratulations to The Hermitage Covid Support Group, Andy Murray, Sara Disson and Carolyn Purchase for their incredible success at these recent awards

Highly Commended – Hermitage Community Volunteer Group
This group was set up to provide Hermitage and the surrounding villages with a food bank and with food deliveries for those who needed them. They also collected and delivered medicine and supported vulnerable and lonely people – making a positive difference to their wellbeing. They recruited new volunteers from the Parish Council and Village Hall Committee. The panel recognised the fact that the group showed great innovation by sourcing grants to enlist the services of a professional caterer to provide hot meals for the most vulnerable in the community.

For further details see https://info.westberks.gov.uk/awardwinners

For more details on their work and available support see Latest newsletter

For a summary of available support or how to help, please read our latest newsletter.

Advice on the closure of outdoor sportsgrounds and facilities
18 January 2021.
On 4 January 2021 the government announced that England was to enter a National Lockdown in response to coronavirus pandemic.
In response to this announcement The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions)
(All Tiers) (England) Regulations 2021 were amended to specify what types of
premise must close. Included in the list of locations required to close are ‘outdoor sportsgrounds and facilities, including outdoor gyms, sports courts,
swimming pools, water sports, shooting and archery venues, golf courses,
and driving ranges’
It has come to the attention of the Public Protection Partnership that across West Berkshire, Wokingham and Bracknell some skateparks, bmx pump tracks/courses, and Multi Use Games Area (MUGA) have remained open. This communication is intended to advise Town and Parish Councils who manage such facilities that they are required to close. It is requested that steps are made to close the facilities or where impractical to close them, to notify residents that they are not available for use. It may be necessary to speak with your insurance provider as to any necessary steps that they wish you to take to implement this closure.
Public Playgrounds are permitted to remain open and Covid Secure guidance exists for managing playgrounds. The guidance can be found here. Please note that whilst this Covid Secure guidance is also written to cover outdoor gyms: in the current lockdown outdoor gyms are required to close.
It is recognised the important role and benefits that outdoor facilities provide our residents and if any legislative amendments or further guidance is published regarding the reopening or partial reopening of these facilities, the PPP will endeavour to update this advice to you at the earliest opportunity.
If you have any questions or require any further advice on specific outdoor facilities in your local area, please contact PPP via the email address
tsadvice@westberks.gov.uk and an Officer will be happy to assist.

As you will be aware we are calling in patients for their COVID-19 vaccinations at the Newbury Racecourse.  At the same time the NHS are offering this service at the large national COVID-19 vaccination sites, some patients may receive letters asking them to travel to a national vaccination site for a COVID-19 Jab.  This can be very confusing for some patients.  Patients do not need to travel to national vaccination centre, they will all be offered a COVID-19 vaccination at the Newbury Racecourse.  The below link to our website is the latest update.

COVID Vaccination Clinics

We will keep you informed of developments.

West Berkshire have launched a consultation with their partners on the priorities for the Berkshire West Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy. This document will set out how health and social care professionals will work together to improve the health of people living in Reading, West Berkshire and Wokingham over the next ten years.

The consultation is hosted by the Berkshire West Clinical Commissioning Group and closes on 29 January 2021. We’ll use your feedback to create a draft Berkshire West Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy, which we’ll consult on during spring 2021.