Review of the Year 2024

January

  • Welcome packs have been reprinted and distributed by GT
  • Benches purchased to commemorate Bill Graham and the ScD Gardening Club
  • Asked WBC to sort out Long Lane flooding
  • New internal auditor appointed
  • Another batch of ‘Welcome packs’ printed and delivered to residents and show homes on the new estates

February

  • Start of levelling of Owen Road Field
  • Community Speed Watch sessions, manned by councillors and members of the public are organised and held throughout the year
  • Comprehensive repairs carried out to playground equipment
  • First survey of pedestrians crossing by the Castle Pub undertaken by councillors
  • Second Speed Indicator Device purchased for the parish
  • Community Speedwatch signs attached to Village Gateways in Long Lane and B4494

March

  • Community Litter Pick took place
  • New kitchen installed in the pavilion
  • New-look four page newsletter printed and delivered by councillors to all 900+ homes in the parish
  • Meeting with Action for River Kennet to see if any community work could be done to improve the local section of the River Lambourn
  • Four trees planted in the green at Lamp Acres
  • New Parish Council website goes live
  • A new litter bin and new lids for the dog bins in the recreation ground are installed
  • Second survey of pedestrians crossing by the Castle Pub undertaken by councillors
  • Liaising with WBC regarding delays to infrastructure promised by developers, e.g. ANPR cameras on Bastion Street, new bus service and new primary school
  • New Parish Emergency Plan approved
  • Council attends the WBC Speed Limit Review panel, who agree to consult on reductions to speed limits on Oxford Road and Long Lane

April

  • New gov.uk email addresses adopted
  • Parish Flood Warden Cllr Glyn Thomas liaising with WBC over the swales on new development
  • New car parking area in the recreation ground completed, including new height barrier

May

  • New larger dog bin ordered for Love Lane
  • Newly levelled Owen Road Field re-seeded
  • New defibrillator installed in Kingsley Close, fundraised for buy local residents
  • Councillors clean the pavilion’s exterior prior to it being repainted by Community Payback

June

  • Successful beacon lighting event held at Donnington Castle on 6 June to celebrate 80 years since D-Day
  • New benches installed in the pavilion changing rooms
  • Very successful village fete took place on 23 June, organised by councillors and members of the community. A dog show, concert band and produce show were included for the first time.

September

  • ‘Have your Say’ meeting arranged with TV Police following the shooting of a pet cat in Shaw Valley
  • 5 new streetlight lanterns installed in Church Car park
  • New playground surfacing installed at recreation ground
  • Council responded to the Local Plan Review
  • Petition presented to WBC for a crossing on the B4494 by The Castle Pub
  • New bus service is launched in the parish, and it is publicised in the Autumn newsletter

October

  • Autumn Litter Pick took place
  • New toddler swings installed in playground
  • Three councillors attend the Local Plan Review hearing and make the case to exclude land either side of Long Lane for housing development
  • Council agrees new designs for identity signs for the villages in the parish, and progresses with plans for I  installation
  • Faulty shower in pavilion replaced
  • New lampposts are installed on Shaw Hill footpath

November

  • Grant applications made for a disabled toilet to be installed in the pavilion
  • The Government Inspector announces that the sites for development in the parish have been removed from the Local Plan Review
  • Councillors and others remove concrete plinths from back of pavilion and create a soakaway
  • A donated bench is installed at the recreation ground
  • Replacement hedging is planted by the car parking area by councillors
  • Dog bins and post boxes have been requested for the two new estates

December

  • The Christmas newsletter has been produced, and delivered by councillors with the Church newsletter and new bus timetable, to all homes in the parish