Bracknell Forest Mayor

Cllr Bob Wade was elected during the Annual Borough Council meeting and will now take over as first citizen of Bracknell Forest from Cllr Bob Edger.

Cllr Wade said: "I have had a wonderful year as deputy mayor and Im sure Ill have an even more enjoyable year as Bracknell Forest mayor, being an ambassador for the borough. "During the next 12 months, there will be many opportunities to recognise, promote and celebrate our dedicated people in the voluntary sector, education, business, commerce and local government."

Previous Mayor Cllr Edger attended many functions and events Throughout the year, and met many of Bracknell Forest's residents, volunteers and business people.

He said: "My wife, Sigi, and I thoroughly enjoyed our year, meeting people from across the borough and beyond.

"Some of the most enjoyable functions we attended were those involving children and have included inter-schools sports and other competitions, music and choir concerts, plays and art exhibitions.

"It has also been a great privilege over the last year to see how the borough's volunteer organisations and charities operate. If anything is designed to keep one's feet planted firmly on the ground it is witnessing some of these volunteers at work." Cllr Edger's year in office was marked by his support for the charity Childline , which benefitted by more than £16,500 thanks to various events, including a St Valentine's ball and a golf day at Downshire Golf Complex. A cheque was presented to a Childline representative at the ceremony.

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Council will step in to fill the Sixth Form funding gap

Picture of Alan Ward Four of the six secondary schools in the borough will between them be £122,000 worse off this year due to the Government's funding allocation for sixth form places in September. At a meeting of the council on Wednesday, April 15, Cllr Alan Ward, executive member for finance, resources and assets, said that he and the council's officers will be looking at options to help meet this funding gap and ensure that no Bracknell Forest student misses out on a sixth form place. Cllr Ward said: "We are very disappointed the Government has not calculated for an increase in applications for sixth form places and has therefore instructed the Learning and Skills Council to fund them at a lower level per head. "This comes at a particularly difficult time when applications are up for post-16 education because young people want to improve their skills and qualifications to help them get a job during the recession. By helping young people to remain in education the council is contributing to its new medium term objective of supporting people during the recession.

Top marks for Bracknell Forest Schools

Reports have been positive from the Ofsted inspectors who have inspected local schools in borough over the last few months.

Recent gradings include:
o Binfield CofE Primary School -physical education - grade 1, outstanding;
o Holly Spring Junior School - grade 2, good;
o The Brakenhale School - grade 3, satisfactory;
o Sandhurst School - grade 3, satisfactory.

The £40m project at Garth Hill College is now well into the construction phase. Back In July 2007 the plans were submitted for the complete rebuild of the school. The plans went to public consultation, with residents overwhelmingly supporting the designs. The new school will be open in September 2010, and then the existing buildings will be demolished.

Advice to residents following heavy rain

Bracknell Forest Borough Council has advice for residents on flooding following the adverse weather conditions.
To read the advice, please follow the link:
http://www.bracknell-forest.gov.uk/env-flooding.htm

Economic climate

Bracknell Forest Council has launched a new priority for the town in light of the current economic climate. The new priority is about "sustaining economic prosperity". During the credit crunch the Council will be working to ensure residents and local businesses have all the help and advice they need. This will include some new comprehensive web pages on the Council's website which will signpost residents and businesses to the support available including benefits, saving on household bills, employment and training help, debt advice, access to free and discounted leisure activities and other useful contacts.
please visit the Borough website at http://www.bracknell-forest.gov.uk/creditcrunch

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Waste Disposal Site

Major improvement works at the Longshot Lane civic amenity site started on 31 March 2008 and are scheduled to continue until the end of June 2009.
Queues at the redeveloped site will be cut and capacity enhanced in peak times due to an improved layout, better marshalling and increased onsite car capacity.
The redeveloped civic amenity site will be more efficient, with additional covered bays for recycling.
It will have a new facility to recover recycled materials from general waste.
There are plans for a visitors' centre

The Council understands how much residents value the use of Longshot Lane and therefore will communicate full details to residents during the redevelopment. The Council's website is updated regularly with the latest information while the redevelopment takes place.
The plans were submitted to the Council by re3 Limited, the company appointed on a 25 year contract, supported by a private finance initiative between Bracknell Forest, Reading and Wokingham Borough Councils and the Waste Recycling Group. re3 was created to increase recycling and reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill sites across the three authorities with the additional benefit of significantly reducing the overall cost of waste disposal in the long term to save our residents' money.

Cllr Mrs Dorothy Hayes, Executive Member for the Environment, said:

"The redevelopment of Longshot Lane will make a real and positive difference to residents. "We understand the work will cause some inconvenience to residents, and we will be doing everything we can during the works to minimise the disruption caused."