In this week's Newbury Weekly News
In this week’s Newbury Weekly News, a Thatcham woman has been jailed after defrauding her employers out of more than £90,000.
Joanne Jordan abused her trusted position as a secretary at The Old Mill, Aldermaston by writing fraudulent cheques and duplicating invoices - until her deceit was uncovered by her employers.
In other news, scaled-back plans for a development in Speen have now been submitted after a campaign by allotment holders who were angered by proposals to move them from the site they have inhabited for 100 years.
Benham Estates first put forward plans for 125 dwellings on land between the A4, Station Road and the A34 in 2013, in response to West Berkshire Council’s call for suitable housing sites in the same year.
Also this week, Theale Parish Council has been asked to give up five acres of its North Street playing fields – or risk not getting the replacement primary school that it “urgently needs”.
West Berkshire Council says the land – owned by the Englefield Estate but held on a long-term lease by the parish council – is the only suitable site in the village.
Meanwhile, female genital mutilation, a brutal practice that involves the cutting, removal and damage of female genitalia, was revealed as a problem across the district.
At a health and well-being board meeting held in Newbury last week communities director Rachael Wardell said: “People might think that it is not a problem in West Berkshire but it is.”
On the education pages Trinity School was the host for a hustings event last week that pitted parliamentary candidates for Labour, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats against a host of sixth formers from the school.
For a full report and all of the education news, interviews and features for the schools in your area pick up a copy and turn to pages 18 and 19 for our education pages.
In Hungerford, regular users of a “popular” Hungerford bus service are devastated after it was discontinued last week.
The 222 service between East Grafton, Hungerford and Newbury has been cut despite a campaign to save it.
In Thatcham this week, it was celebrations all around for Cold Ash Pre-school after it was graded outstanding by Ofsted.
The pre-school was judged to have inspirational teachers and that staff demonstrated “an uncompromising ambition to deliver a first-rate service.”
And in the Hampshire pages, the Earl of Carnarvon bids a fond farewell to Downton Abbey this year, after ITV revealed the 6th series of the period drama, to be shown in the autumn, and filmed at Highclere Castle, Lord Carnarvon’s ancestral home, would be the last – with a possible film of the award-winning series mooted.
Our 3D image this week allows you to drive a Ferrari off the page wherever you have the paper and our Newburyi3d app – available from the App Store and Google Play.
Our commemorative coverage of the First World War continues, looking at policemen from West Berkshire who went from serving their local community to serving their country.
