Conference helps inspire communities

More than 130 people attended the Building Stronger Communities Conference in Newbury on Saturday

MORE than 130 people attended a conference in Newbury on Saturday to hear from MPs and local organisations about rural initiatives and how to build stronger local communities.

About 30 local communities were represented at the Building Stronger Communities Conference at Newbury Rugby Club on Saturday (March 5), which was organised by the West Berkshire Partnership and the Community Council for Berkshire.

The packed room heard from Reading West MP, Alok Sharma, about how the Localism Bill will impact on local communities and from Newbury MP and environment minister, Richard Benyon, who gave an insight into rural broadband initiatives.

The event also featured a question and answer session, interactive workshops about such aspects as the green agenda and plans for celebrations for the 2012 Olympics and presentations on successful projects within West Berkshire, including the Mortimer Village Partnership and the Greater Greenham Project.

Meanwhile, a cheque for £500 was presented to Beedon Youth Club for equipment for the village hall.

The chairwoman of the West Berkshire Partnership, district councillor Pamela Bale (Con, Pangbourne) said it was a good event with lots of interesting discussions, while Elaine Cook, from the Community Council for Berkshire, said there were plenty of ideas to inspire communities, adding that she was sure that everyone who attended got something useful from the event.