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Thursday, November 18, 2021

Newbury Weekly News

NORTH HAMPSHIRE NEWS

Tax hike likely to tackle funding gap Borough council looks to £5 a year increase over four years

“I think people were sur- prised about how beautiful the cookbook was in terms of the layout and it’s very clean in the way it’s written. “Some cookbooks are a jumble of recipes, while with this people were pleased and loved how it looks. It was pleasing for people who sweated a lot of time over it.” The money will partly go towards repairs to St Mar- tin’s Church, which needs £28,000 to repair a design fault in the bell tower’s lead roof and £12,000 to get the clock working again. It will also be put towards other community needs, such as St Martin’s School and its playground equip- ment. Mrs Leventhorpe said the cookbook remained on sale, while the guild was now planning its events in 2022. She said: “We’re continu- ing to sell the books in the lead up to Christmas and my colleagues on the commit- tee who put it together have had orders from people who weren’t able to come on Sat- urday. “They’ve put out the word – I think there will be a stream of people buying it for stocking fillers.” WOOLTON Hill is getting fes- tive next weekend as the vil- lage holds its annual Christ- mas market. The seasonal bonanza will be “bigger than ever” with a total of 30 stalls, including seven new outlets, selling wine, ceramics, homemade chocolate, fudge, jewellery, local charcoal and cosmetics. There will also be the usual feast of seasonal fruit and veg, Christmas cakes and puddings, local high welfare meat includ- ing venison, freshly- cooked chipolata and breakfast rolls, and a free cup of mulled cider for the grown-ups. For the children there will be a free treasure hunt in order to win a prize. A raffle and tea room with home-made cakes will also be raising funds for Mencap and Daisy’s Dream – a charity which supports children and their families who’ve been affected by a life-threatening illness or bereavement of someone close to them. The market will be held at St Thomas’ Village Hall and in the infant school’s playground on Saturday, November 27, from 10.30am to 1pm. Organiser Sally Fenwick said preparations were going well and it was going to be a “cosy, Christmas event”. She said: “We’ve got 30 stalls which is possibly the biggest market we’ve had, but I could have filled it twice due to the demand. “Our market has a really good reputation now – we’ve worked really hard to create a really nice atmosphere at the market and we try to be really friendly and welcoming.” Festive market is ‘biggest yet’

challenges, housing and homeless- ness, and customer service. Hampshire County Council is also preparing to hike its portion of council tax by 3.99 per cent as it tackles an £80m black hole. The dual rises mean the average band D property could be paying around an extra £60 per year from next April. Borough council cabinet mem- ber for finance and major projects John Izett (Con, Evingar) said: “We have weathered the Covid pandemic well so far and with careful management are dealing with the loss of central Govern- ment funding year on year. “Because of the tough choices we continue to make, we’re able to pay for more investment in front- line services that residents tell us are most important to them. “It’s by managing our finances carefully year on year that we’re able to withstand shocks such as Covid on the one hand and find the

COUNCIL tax for Basingstoke and Deane residents is likely to rise £5 a year for the next four years as the borough council prepares to deal with a pre- dicted £1.2m funding gap in 2025/26. Under draft proposals approved for public consultation at a cabinet meeting last week, the council’s fees and charges will also increase by three per cent. These increases will go towards meeting the extra demand for the council’s services. However, the council will be investing an additional £1m – de- ployed from its unused reserves – into its frontline services, as it prepares to take on an additional 29 full-time employees over the next four years. This investment will include seven grounds maintenance staff and three in the council’s natural environment team, as well as more staff to help with climate change

extra money to invest in front line services on the other hand. “Very few councils across the country are in this fortunate strong position.” Despite the increase in invest- ment to frontline services, there will be cuts elsewhere. The council is proposing to withdraw its funding for the Bas- ingstoke Kite Festival, Transport Festival and Euskirchen Festival of Sport, saving it around £200,000. It is also suggesting reducing its grants to the community and vol- untary sector by £130,000. A public consultation on the draft budget has now been launched and will run until Sun- day, January 2, 2022. Feedback from the consultation will then be considered before fi- nal decisions about the budget are taken at a council meeting on Feb- ruary 17, 2022. To take part in the consultation, visit www.basing- stoke.gov.uk/budget2021

A CHEQUE for more than £2,000 was presented to Bruce Boats at the recent Highclere Society annual meeting. The meeting was attended by around 50 members of the society in the village hall on November 11. The chairman and the committee were re- elected, and the role of treasurer was taken over by Gus MacIver, after Nick Spencer retired from the committee. Chairman Phil Wrigley said: “After such a difficult year it was an excellent turnout, with everyone double-jabbed and some boostered.” Mr Wrigley added that the society had managed to hold the annual barbecue, which was attended by 120 members. The raffle and auction helped to raised £2,123, which was presented as a cheque to Paul Eames of Bruce Boats, a local charity dedicated to helping disadvantaged and disabled people enjoy a day on the canal. This year’s chosen charity for the society is Medical Detection Dogs. Society’s £2k gift for Bruce Boats Honorary life president Patrick Hedgeland (left) and Paul Eames of Bruce Boats

Woolton Hill schools seek new governors

THE Schools of Woolton Hill – a federation comprising St Thom- as’ Infant School and Woolton Hill Junior School – is looking for new governors. Posting on Facebook, it said: “The Schools of Woolton Hill have a number of vacancies for new gov-

ernors. This is a deeply rewarding role and contributes greatly to the school and our children.” Governors are volunteers and people do not need to be a parent or a parent of a pupil at the school. Applicants need to be able to de- vote time to attend meetings and

to read papers, and the governing body usually meets at least one a term. For more information, visit https://www.stthomasinfant . co.uk/governor-vacancies or https://www.wooltonhilljunior. co.uk/governor-vacancies

Cookbook is the recipe for success THE release of a commu- nity cookbook helped to raise more than £2,300 in aid of St Martin’s Church in East Woodhay at a spe- cial fundraiser last week- end. had gone “really well”. She said: “The artisans made all their lovely things, the cookbook sold well and we sold out of cakes.

The cookbook was put to- gether by committee mem- bers of St Martin’s Guild and was filled with recipes con- tributed by members of the local community, alongside personalised tales of where the recipes came from. Examples included Irish soda bread by resident Mark Keenan, with a message that said: “First served in a quaint little pub in Galway. “The publican was kind enough to share his recipe. It’s ridiculously easy – just mix the ingredients and bake.” Mr Keenan brought along

To view or buy pictures from the paper visit the picture gallery on our website

From left, Fi Coyne, Mark Keenan, Karen Titcomb and Sarah Leventhorpe with the cookbook Ref: 46-0721A

a loaf he’d made to the fund- raiser, which was confirmed by the guild’s secretary Sa- rah Leventhorpe as being “delicious”. As well as the cookbook – titled the East Woodhay Cookery Book – the East

Woodhay Artisans sold their usual homemade wares, including cush- ions, lampshades and other home-sewn items. Mrs Leventhorpe said the event – which took place on Saturday at the church –

The East Woodhay fundraiser raised £2,300

Ref: 46-0721B