News

• Residents encouraged to have their say on crime and safety in Reading
• Annual survey open now - link below
• Responses will help shape future strategies to make Reading safer

• National changes in law mean existing postal votes are now only valid for three years
• It means postal voters who made their current application before 31 October 2023, have to reapply for their postal vote
• The change affects 18,000 existing postal voters in Reading this year

• Water Fest returns for its 36th year on Saturday 28 June 2025, in partnership with the Kennet and Avon Canal Trust

• Reading one of a number of Council's to have actively campaigned for more housing funding
• £39bn boost for housing over the next ten years announced
• Reading Borough Council aims to use extra funding to build on its affordable housing ambitions

• Dozens of Reading residents share their moments of joy as part of a local campaign for Mental Health Awareness month in May
• Reading Joy project extended for Loneliness Awareness Week last week 

• Eight new throw lines along Reading waterways
• Emergency information including location finders
• How to use the throw lines to help someone in trouble
• Do not enter the water and call 999

• On Friday 20 June - five years after the attacks - Reading will commemorate the innocent victims of Forbury Gardens at a Civic Memorial Service 
• Residents are invited to attend the service which begins at 7pm at the memorial stone in Forbury Gardens

• Duck couple and their eggs found in Civic Centre construction area
• The nest was protected and work around it temporarily paused
• All eggs successfully hatched

• The process of removing old pay & display machines and installing 96 new models around the town is under way
• The new solar-powered machines will accept contactless payment with bank cards and mobile payment apps as well as RingGo
• Cash payments will be available in locations where there has historically been high cash use

• 250th anniversary celebrations since Jane Austen’s birth
• Jane Austen’s former school room open for tours and talks

A NEW exhibition which tells the story of those who live, work, and play on the Thames is opening at the Royal Berkshire Archives on Wednesday 11 June and running until Friday 29 August.

• Motorists with the most polluting vehicles would pay more to park in Reading under proposals being discussed
• Scheme aims to encourage the use of low or no-emissions vehicles, or other alternatives, to help improve air quality and the health of residents
• Councillors will next week consider responses to an informal consultation