Council to spend £140m on improving district
Five year programme will include £110m spend on education and roads
WEST Berkshire Council will spend £140m on improving the district over the next five years.
The majority of the money – £80.7m – will come from external sources, which mainly consist of government grants.
A further £20.9m will come from developer contributions and the remaining £38.8m from council resources. The council resources include an estimated £1.25m from assets which are expected to be sold over the next two years.
In total, £57.1m will be spent on education, with £9.6m being used for the two primary schools proposed for the new Sandleford Park development.
A new primary school in Theale, to replace the oversubscribed current school, will cost £7.1m.
More than £1m will be spent on the expansion of Spurcroft Primary School, while The Willows Primary School will also expand at a cost of £1.8m.
The council will spend £1.45m of its capital budget on exploring options for Park House to take on additional pupils from the Newbury Racecourse and Sandleford Park developments.
More than £55m will be spent on improving and maintaining the council’s road network.
External funds totalling £4.5m have been secured for improvements to the A339 corridor and a new junction into Faraday Road, while £2.7m will be spent on a new link road from the Sterling Cables site to Kings Road.
The council has also set aside £5.6m of funding for access into Sandleford Park.
More than £1.7m will be spent on improvements to the Robin Hood, Burger King and Bear Lane roundabouts until 2020, while £850,000 will be spent on the new bus station at The Wharf.
In total £3.8m will be spent on the maintenance and improvement of parks, open spaces, sporting and cultural facilities.
Of that, £540,000 is to be spent on new sports pitches at Henwick Worthy.
Almost £3.8m will go on adult social care and £11.6m for occupational health equipment, home adaptions and supported living for older people and people with physical or learning disabilities.
The council will spend £1.5m on the continued delivery of Superfast Broadband throughout the district, while £430,000 investment is planned for structural maintenance of Shaw House.
The council’s five-year capital spending programme also includes £1.2m on essential maintenance and modernisation of leisure centres.
The Culture and Environmental Protection programme also includes £100,000 per year.