Council savings proposed for 2014-2016 Options

[Simon Kirby]

More than ever, the land for the Sandleford Country Park needs handing over to a trust along with an endowment that will generate sufficient revenue to run it in perpetuity. Without this the promise of a Country Park is empty.

[Andy Capp]

For a start they could look at the amount of money that is just spent on taxis to get children to school. So many of the families that qualify for this service have too often been allowed to get away with pretty much demanding an exclusive chauffeur driven motor for their ungrateful and disruptive brat.

Public Transport team try to arrange a shared taxi for two children in the same village going to the same school. Too easy. The parent of one of them will phone up and claim that the children hate each other and will fight, or one of them bullies the other at school so they can't possibly share. So two taxis get booked.

Other scenario is where taxi turns up to take teenage brat to school but said brat is still in bed and refuses to get up. Taxi driver is sent away and told by the school transport team to go back in an hour and see if child is out of bed. Two trips, two lots of cost.

Yes, if we could just stop this, then the town will be saved!

[spartacus]

Yes, if we could just stop this, then the town will be saved!

well

[motormad]

For a start they could look at the amount of money that is just spent on taxis to get children to school. So many of the families that qualify for this service have too often been allowed to get away with pretty much demanding an exclusive chauffeur driven motor for their ungrateful and disruptive brat.

Public Transport team try to arrange a shared taxi for two children in the same village going to the same school. Too easy. The parent of one of them will phone up and claim that the children hate each other and will fight, or one of them bullies the other at school so they can't possibly share. So two taxis get booked.

Other scenario is where taxi turns up to take teenage brat to school but said brat is still in bed and refuses to get up. Taxi driver is sent away and told by the school transport team to go back in an hour and see if child is out of bed. Two trips, two lots of cost.

So then if child is late for school child gets no lift to school and parents are billed the cost of the taxi trip

Easy.

Full rate charges for parking on Sunday.... That'll be popular "You're KILLING the town!!" they all cry...

Because it is?
It's cr@p.

[blackdog]

Now all the secondary schools are academies WBC has no control over them; so why do they have to deliver children to them? If schools want to run their own affairs let them run them all.

[Sherlock]

Now all the secondary schools are academies WBC has no control over them; so why do they have to deliver children to them? If schools want to run their own affairs let them run them all.

Good point but the Coalition are generally in the business of privatising profits and subsidising or nationalising losses and this fits with that philosophy. Cameron, in the meantime, boasts about how many private sector jobs the Coalition have created but include academy staff in that number even though they're paid for by taxpayers! http://goo.gl/39JnpW I guess the son of a serial tax dodger has dishonesty in his blood. http://goo.gl/ig6pJ

[Exhausted]

Volunteering to cut the road verges is a definite possibility, and seeing how much money is spent on it I think that's something to think seriously about. It's something I'd gladly volunteer to do, so I'm guessing others would enjoy it too. To be honest I've often wondered about estates I've seen with unkempt public spaces and wondered why no one would think of just taking their mower over and taking pride in the place where they live. But then I've seen how oppressive public authorities like our town council can be in defence of their grounds maintenance empire - they're after grabbing every tax-spending pretext they can........

You would know Simon but isn't most of the grass cutting in town including the street verges, the remit of NTC. If that is the case, then the village green and verges in the villages should fall upon their parish council. This may already be the case, I don't know.
There is still the need to keep the verges of the highways and roads under the control of WBC cut back. There isn't a householder with a lawnmower able to do that so is that why there is such a high figure.

Now all the secondary schools are academies WBC has no control over them; so why do they have to deliver children to them? If schools want to run their own affairs let them run them all.

What is the criteria for children being delivered to school at public cost. I suspect that the free run comes under the heading "Special needs child" and as such, the child is allocated to the school. In that case, could the school refuse to pay the travel costs as often, especially in the case of younger children, the school it not always the closest to the residence of the parents.

[masons]

if saving £165,000 on road maintenance includes the people in a lorry who stop, 1 gets out throws a shovel full of black tar stuff in the hole scrapes overspill in with the edge of his boot and tamps it down
with the back of his shovel then returns to the cab 20 seconds later (as seen outside my house , only to return a few months later to repeat the process "cos the rain has washed away the first lot of tar) I'm all for that

[Phil]

You would know Simon but isn't most of the grass cutting in town including the street verges, the remit of NTC. If that is the case, then the village green and verges in the villages should fall upon their parish council. This may already be the case, I don't know.
There is still the need to keep the verges of the highways and roads under the control of WBC cut back. There isn't a householder with a lawnmower able to do that so is that why there is such a high figure.

You can see a map of grass the council currently cuts here: http://ww2.westberks.gov.uk/InternetMappin...7&opencat=2

[Berkshirelad]

Now all the secondary schools are academies WBC has no control over them; so why do they have to deliver children to them? If schools want to run their own affairs let them run them all.

They're not

[motormad]

if saving £165,000 on road maintenance includes the people in a lorry who stop, 1 gets out throws a shovel full of black tar stuff in the hole scrapes overspill in with the edge of his boot and tamps it down
with the back of his shovel then returns to the cab 20 seconds later (as seen outside my house , only to return a few months later to repeat the process "cos the rain has washed away the first lot of tar) I'm all for that

They need to do it once, and do it properly. That is the problem.

Plus the cost from paying to replace peoples tyres, wheels and suspension components adds up quickly.....

[blackdog]

They're not

Oh? Which one has stayed under WBC control?

[Ruwan Uduwerage-...]

Dear Forum Members,

I am sure by now you will have seen the video of Cllr Gordon Lundie outlining the proposed cuts to services of West Berkshire Council, and will also impact on the Town and Parish Councils as well.

I would be only too pleased to know what people think will be the results of these cuts to not only those living in the urban areas, but also those living the rural areas, and what can be done to mitigate the negative impact on the most vulnerable.

As a member of Newbury Town Council I am further interested in hearing what the precept payers of Newbury desire their Town Council to do/not do with regard to these, and the 10% cut to its own budget which will have an impact on the services provided by NTC.

I look forward to hearing your positive contribution to the local governance of Newbury.

Yours

Ruwan Uduwerage-Perera
Councillor for Victoria Ward

[Ron]

You can see a map of grass the council currently cuts here: http://ww2.westberks.gov.uk/InternetMappin...7&opencat=2

Well that map is a load of porkies. The WBDC or NTC haven't cut the verges down Newtown Road for ages.

[Simon Kirby]

You would know Simon but isn't most of the grass cutting in town including the street verges, the remit of NTC. If that is the case, then the village green and verges in the villages should fall upon their parish council. This may already be the case, I don't know.
There is still the need to keep the verges of the highways and roads under the control of WBC cut back. There isn't a householder with a lawnmower able to do that so is that why there is such a high figure.

As the map that Phil most helpfully posted shows, the verges are mostly done by WBC. I have very little idea of what the other parishes do and to be honest there's a world of difference between the small ones and the large ones, with the small ones spending like £20-£30 per household on a very minimal set of services, and the big ones spending around £100 per household and a much broader range of stuff.

NTC have something like 50 bits of green-space that they manage and the maintenance bill is around £100k. This is separate from the maintenance of all the parks. It's a wild extrapolation, but if the five biggest of the West Berks parishes do the same kind of thing then that's a total bill of £500k - a serious potential for savings. There is some scope for residents adopting lengths of WBC verge to maintain where the verge is in a residential area, but virtually all of these green areas maintained by the parishes are amenable to adoption - interesting bits of land in residential areas where keen gardeners would love to adopt the maintenance for the sense of ownership and pride that it brings.

[Simon Kirby]

As a member of Newbury Town Council I am further interested in hearing what the precept payers of Newbury desire their Town Council to do/not do with regard to these, and the 10% cut to its own budget which will have an impact on the services provided by NTC.

As this is the WBC thread I'll post my thoughts in the NTC thread.

[Berkshirelad]

Oh? Which one has stayed under WBC control?

The Downs; John O'Gaunt; Little Heath; Willink are all LA maintained schools

Denefield; Kennet; Park House; Trinity are all academies

[On the edge]

As the map that Phil most helpfully posted shows, the verges are mostly done by WBC. I have very little idea of what the other parishes do and to be honest there's a world of difference between the small ones and the large ones, with the small ones spending like £20-£30 per household on a very minimal set of services, and the big ones spending around £100 per household and a much broader range of stuff.

NTC have something like 50 bits of green-space that they manage and the maintenance bill is around £100k. This is separate from the maintenance of all the parks. It's a wild extrapolation, but if the five biggest of the West Berks parishes do the same kind of thing then that's a total bill of £500k - a serious potential for savings. There is some scope for residents adopting lengths of WBC verge to maintain where the verge is in a residential area, but virtually all of these green areas maintained by the parishes are amenable to adoption - interesting bits of land in residential areas where keen gardeners would love to adopt the maintenance for the sense of ownership and pride that it brings.

Community effort on verges and green space can do other things. For instance some prudent planting can have the effect of visually narrowing the road and thus encouraging reduced speeds, but without humps. Equally well tended and planted verges make for a more aspiration all area and make great places to plant fruiting trees etc.

[Simon Kirby]

Community effort on verges and green space can do other things. For instance some prudent planting can have the effect of visually narrowing the road and thus encouraging reduced speeds, but without humps. Equally well tended and planted verges make for a more aspiration all area and make great places to plant fruiting trees etc.

Precisely so. I very much approve of the idea of communities adopting their common areas and agreeing between themselves what to plant and mow - it's all about inclusion and enfranchisement. We're simply more social and communal if we live in a place that we feel we own. There's also something quiet fundamental and primitive about planting trees which also seems to root people in their communities too.

[blackdog]

The Downs; John O'Gaunt; Little Heath; Willink are all LA maintained schools

And Theale Green I assume? Could have sworn Downs was an academy.

Denefield; Kennet; Park House; Trinity are all academies

And St Barts

I'm obviously too Newbury centred!

Still half of them are academies, one of which has already demonstrated it can provide school transport cheaper than WBC.