Jennetts Park residents, who are waiting for the promised NHS Doctors' surgery, has heard from the Council that plans to turn it into other usage, perhaps an arts centre or museum, has been blocked.  They are also waiting for other promised facilities to be provided.

Borough residents are asked to give their views on the location of the shops, businesses, roads, schools, parks, leisure facilities and 5,300 houses that the Council needs to build in in the next 30 years.  There are several roadshows and consultations planned from now until April 9th 2010.  
http://consult.bracknell-forest.gov.uk/portal/planning/sadpd/sadpd_participation?pointId=1090358

To find details of the activities and march planned in support of the Look-In campaign log into this website
http://bracknelllookin.blogspot.com/

The Look In march attracted 200 people of all ages.  A petition signed by 2500 supporters was handed in to the council offices.  A community café run by volunteers is proposed by the council.

Richard Price of Crowthorne informs us that there are plans to clear and signpost the Devils Highway track which runs from the Look Out to Winchester and Salisbury.  It is an ancient Anglo-Saxon route taken over by the Romans.

Hundreds of fish have been added to Mill Pond, Wild Ridings, as part of its regeneration.

Bev Hindle, Chief Officer of Planning and Transport BFC, spoke at the BFVA Lunch.
Click here to link to attachment .

To request a copy of an orienteering map to enable visitors to navigate themselves around Lily Hill Park, phone 01344 354411

New radiotherapy treatment at the Royal Berks Hospital could reduce the length of treatments from several weeks to about 4 weeks.

A £20m centre to treat patients with cancer and kidney problems opens next year at Brants Bridge, Bracknell and will include radiotherapy and dialysis.

Youngsters in Years 11, 12, 13 can take the very worthwhile Morrisby Profile Assessment at Connections, Charles Square, to help them decide on their future career. www.connections-berkshire.org.uk

Westmoreland Park
Richard and Claire Wallen
Warfield Environment Group

Heatherwood Hospital now has state-of-the art equipment to perform complex spinal surgery.

The lease of Enid Wood House in Bracknell High Street is being returned to the owners by the Council .  It is thought that the building could be revamped to become a hotel or flats with restaurants.

Binfield C of E Primary School

Binfield Library

St John's Church, Crowthorne
Photo Bob Wade

2009 sees the 60th anniversary of an important date in Bracknell’s history – its designation as a new town on 17th June 1949.  To mark this occasion the council are planning a series of temporary exhibitions focusing on aspects of the last sixty years – people, shops, pubs etc.  What memories do you have?  For further information call 01344 420079 or email enquiries@bracknelltowncouncil.gov.uk
The exhibition will be in Brooke House opposite Bentalls and opened by the Town Mayor, Cllr Chas Baily 2pm 1st July.

The National Heritage Lottery grant for the restoration of the grounds of South Hill Park is now in place.  It is proposed to set up a 'Friends of South Hill Parkland'.  Please contact Richard Scrivener if you are able to help.Residents of Bracknell are being asked to search for old pictures of South Hill Park to help with the restoration of the historic park.  Photos, prints or plans of the open spaces or the building will be welcome.  Further information is available from Richard.scrivener@bracknell-forest.gov.uk or on 01344 351758.

South Hill Park Mansion
Chris and Deb (BCC)
(Bracknell Camera Club)

Blue Plaques
Please give us information regarding any site which qualifies for a Blue Plaque.   You may have some knowledge that nobody else knows about.  Your ancestors could have handed down facts from the past.

There are plans to demolish 'The Goose' pub at Bracknell Station?  As we have so few old buildings in the Borough, is it one that should be preserved?

The Bracknell Ball and the Bull Pub
Ruari Cumming - Bracknell Camera Club

Chief Insp Simon Bowden predicts that car crime could be wiped out in the Borough if people didn't leave things in their cars.  Recently, thirty car owners who had left belongings in their cars were contacted immediately by the police.

LawWorks at   www.lawworksiea.org.uk  offers non-profit making organisations free legal advice.

The Teddy Bears' Picnic is run by the Bracknell Forest Pre-school Learning Alliance. All profits from the event go to the Help a Pre-school Child Appeal which funds children with special needs attending pre-schools. See Events and Links

Lee Spindlow, sports coordinator at Bracknell and Wokingham College, is very keen that  local teenagers make good use of the wonderful new sports facilities there and has planned many activities for them.

Bracknell Armed Forces Day Logo (BAFD 2010) June 26/27 See events
Photo Bracknell Standard

Heavy snowfalls covered the Borough

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Adam, 3, and Annabel Bickley, 6, in Warfield
Photo Bracknell Standard

The Oneplace survey reports that the Borough has:

• residents that are healthier than the national average
• a much lower number of obese youngsters, or youngsters involved in drug or alcohol abuse compared with the national average
• residents who are keen to become involved in the community and the number of volunteers, in fact, tripled last year

The main concerns of residents appear to be:

• the slow progress on the redevelopment of Bracknell Town Centre
• the shortage of affordable accommodation
• traffic congestion

A 'Bracknell Treasure' has been revealed at an Easthampstead Church.

Click here for details and lecture information.

Dr Cynthia Gamble, who gave the lecture, is holding her book on John Ruskin. With her is Ian Gordon whose great, great, grand uncle was the Rev Osborne Gordon tutor to John Ruskin and for 23 years vicar at St Michael's Church, Easthampstead. This well-loved man commissioned the mosaic that is being restored.

See a video about the completed Bracknell and Wokingham College.
www.getbracknell.co.uk

In Channel 4's 'Location, Location' Programme 2/9/09 Windsor was featured but the couple ended up buying a house in Binfield.

Oakwood Youth Challenge, Waterloo Road, has won planning approval to hold 600 people on site.  Mini buses will be used to minimise traffic problems.

Access to Caesar's Camp is being improved for visitors using Natural England Funding.

NHS chiefs announce that the new 'HeathSpace' facility will be built in Market Street near both the train and bus stations.  These will be some of the wide range of services on offer:  urgent care, GP services, physiotherapy, specialist appointments with visiting consultants, scans and diagnostic tests.

War Memorial Gardens  Bracknell

Senior Citizens are invited to great value hot lunches with the children at some primary schools during term time.  Enquire at your local school.

South Hill Park Mansion
Chris and Deb (BCC)

A map showing Bracknell as it was 110 years ago has gone on sale in Waterstones bookshop, Princess Square, Bracknell. A hand drawn black and white map shows the area as it was in 1898.

South Hill Park - Ruari Cumming (BCC)

Bracknell Forest

• came 46th out of 434 Local Authorities in a list of the most popular places to live and work in England
• came 4th in the top 20 affluent areas of Britain
• has more graduates per head of population in the Borough than in any of the other surrounding towns
• has the headquarters of 46 multinational companies
• has twice as many green open spaces per capita compared to other towns.
• 20% of its total area is made up of forest and another 20% is designated as conservation areas

Wintry Scene

• Lily Hill Park has won a prestigious Green Flag award, along with Pope's Meadow, Carnation Hall, Shepherd's Meadow and Sandhurst Memorial Park
• is the safest place to live and has the lowest crime in the whole of the Thames Valley and the third lowest in the UK
• has a colony of firecrests in Swinley Forest. These birds are extremely rare
• has over 80 parks and open spaces - and over 27 play parks plus 77km or 48 miles of public rights of way

Hedge Lane
R and C Wallen

• has four birds of prey: peregrine falcons on the 3M building, buzzards, kestrels and red kites. www.berksbirds.co.uk
• has 70% of its households online
• has 254 listed buildings
• has more deer in the Borough now than during the time of the Norman Conquest
• is one of the areas with the lowest unemployment in the country
• has the lowest number of job seekers in the South East
• is one of only three areas to show an increase in house prices - 3.5% last quarter
• has probably the highest numbers of cars per head of population in the country

Apart from a small settlement in Tasmania (pop 358) we are the only Bracknell on the planet. This is very useful when 'Googling'.

The Rev Michael Bentley, our Chairman, visited Tasmania in January 2008. The settlement consists of a crossroads and a few houses. Cllr Bob Wade, the Mayor of Bracknell Forest, has discovered that the settlement was established to serve the needs of the forestry industry but is now a centre for the local farming community. Its economy is based on mostly dairy, livestock, and poppy production for the pharmaceutical industry. All the streets in Bracknell are female names. Bracknell has a post office, a take-away and a community hall.  It is suggested that we could be twinned.

A hotel in the Kerala region of India has been called the Bracknell Forest Hotel.  The manager explains that they chose the name because Bracknell Forest, Berkshire . . . . is a nature-protected place in the south of England . . . . and the location of the resort is relaxed and calm like Bracknell Forest.

Eric and Gillian Simms of Roman Wood found a ball fountain in the Botanic Gardens, Singapore, similar to the 'Bracknell Ball' outside The Bull Pub in the High Street.

The lift at Bracknell Station for easier access to the far platform has been completed.

Old and New Bridges at Bracknell Station

Bracknell's Famous Tower Block

Click here for more information.

From the Standard

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Site last updated:
08 March 2010