Support Our Work and Your Community by Becoming a CCB Member

The Community Council for Berkshire (CCB) are an independent charity with over 40 years’ experience in community development work. We help people who live and work in Berkshire to make things better for themselves and for their community. We work with communities to develop, deliver and support projects and services which help people overcome challenges, improve their quality of life and strengthen communities in the county.

Rural communities in our county continue to face some formidable challenges. This makes the work of CCB more essential than ever.  Cost of membership for a year is £30 for Parish & Town Councils/Voluntary Organisations or £15 for Individuals

Our projects have a positive and long lasting effect on communities in Berkshire. In 2015-16 we were able to deliver the following outcomes:
•    Work with communities to provide advice, guidance and input into producing Neighbourhood Development Plans. Our Rural Housing Adviser, Arlene Kersley, achieved special recognition for this work and is now a Locality Neighbourhood Planning Champion.
•    We delivered a range of community focused training courses in rural areas that helped attendees with funding advice, how to use social media to promote their events and projects, how to recruit volunteers, produce Neighbourhood Development Plans, manage Trustees and much more.
•    We provided a dedicated and specialist service to volunteers that run community buildings, ensuring that they are safe venues that comply with complex legislation – the Community Buildings Advice Service*
•    We have continued to evidence the need for rural affordable housing for people with a local connection in their parishes by producing housing need surveys. 
•    We continued to provide training, advice and guidance on reducing energy costs, focusing particularly on those people at risk of fuel poverty.
•    The *CCB Oil Club, a bulk-buying service continued to save our members money on the cost of heating their homes with oil
•    We manage the *Berkshire Association of Local Councils (BALC) service which provides specialist advice, training and news to Clerks and Councillors of Parish and Town Councils.
•    Trained and supported communities in Berkshire to create an emergency response flooding plan.
•    Produce this monthly e-bulletin - ‘Action for All’ - full of funding information, local news and events.

The support of our members is vital to the success of a charity like ours. Membership is open to anyone who shares our aims and would like to further the work of our charity.

Every member can access the following benefits:
•    Vote at our Annual General Meeting (1 vote per membership)
•    Discounts and priority booking on our training courses and events
•    An opportunity to become a Trustee on our Board
•    Acknowledgement of your support in our Annual Review
•    Enabling us to continue our core work to help communities identify, raise awareness of and help tackle local issues and priorities.
•    Receive a monthly copy of our Action for All e-bulletin and the opportunity to promote your community news or events in it.
•    And, of course, prompt access to the CCB team who will be available to meet with you to discuss any issues affecting your community.

To support our work by becoming a member please click here to complete a membership form.

Latest Blog from our Rural Housing Enabler: We Have An Act

We Have An Act!

The Housing and Planning Act 2016

Following a sustained period of review in the House of Lords, countless amendments, and several weeks of ‘ping pong’ from Commons to Lords and back again, The Housing and Planning Act was granted Royal Assent on the 12th of May.

The final Act is not yet available on the gov.uk website as all of the changes are undoubtedly being updated, however it is fair to say that the Government stuck to its position on most issues but did give way on a few important points.

There are several victories that should help to preserve affordable homes in rural areas:

·         The face of the Bill includes a clear definition of what is considered to be ‘rural’ for housing and planning terms:

(Paragraph 160, (3)) Any settlement with a population of fewer than 3,000 at the most recent national census or, any settlement with a population of between 3,000 and 10,000 people …and designated rural by the Secretary of State following representations from the relevant local authority.

This helps to uniformly clarify what can be considered for ‘rural exceptions’ in the future. There have been issues of consistency nationally over previous interpretations of the definition.

Rural Exception sites are exempted from the provision of the new ‘Starter Homes’ tenure, which would have resulted in homes being sold at full market value without local protection.

There is much more to report on in the Act, but until the final Act is published I am reluctant to go into too much detail.  I will follow-up with a complete review as soon as the final copy hits my inbox.

What remains uncertain is the outcome of the recent consultation on updating the National Planning Policy Framework.  There remain important questions to be answered whether changes might have a detrimental impact on delivery of rural affordable homes. 

If you would like to discuss either the Housing & Planning Bill or the National Planning Policy Consultation with me, feel free to contact me on:  0118 961 2000  or by email at: arlene.kersley@ccberks.org.uk

Neighbourhood Planning:  What, Why and How

Don’t forget to register for a place at this training event on the 30th June if you are interested in learning more about what Neighbourhood Planning can bring to your community and how to produce a Neighbourhood Development Plan.

Full details are on our website. Or register at the weblink: https://ccberks.wufoo.com/forms/x1maw30l0knk009/

Turn2Us: Fighting Against UK Poverty

This month is the beginning of the Turn2Us 2016 Benefits Awareness Campaign to help more people in financial hardship access the welfare support available to them.

£15 billion in welfare support goes unclaimed every year – often because people are unaware that support is available or feel that benefits aren’t for them.

Turn2Us new research has found that almost half (48%) of low income households are not claiming the welfare benefits and tax credits they could be entitled to. This is despite the fact that a huge 87% of this group have seen no improvement in their financial situation over the last year.

Turn2Us has created four new videos of people they've helped to show that, whatever your situation, if you're struggling financially, there is help available. To view these video's and learn more about their work please click here.

Building Communities Together

Would you like to find out how you could make a difference to the community you are living and working in?Are you currently part of a group or thinking about setting up a group?Do you have knowledge or experience you would like to share with others?

Building Communities Workshop - free informal practical workshops taking places across West Berkshire where everyone is welcome. The workshops are organised by partners CCB, Empowering West Berkshire and West Berkshire Council.

What will the workshop cover?

• Introduction to Building Communities Together. Covering the themes, community conversations, partners involved.
• Introduction to Building Communities Together Fund. Priorities, application process, successful applications.
• Groups discussion on local priorities, what is already happening, where are improvements needed.
• How to get things started, fundraising, promotion, marketing, community engagement/involvement.
• Next steps: where do we go from here?

They are taking place on the following dates:

Monday 6th June - 10.00 - 12.30 - Calcot Community Centre, Highview, Reading, RG31 4XD

Monday 13th June - 13.00 - 15.30 - Greenham Community Centre, The Nightingales, Newbury, RG14 7SZ

Monday 20th June - 10.00 - 12.30 - Burghfield Village Hall, Recreation Road, Burghfield,  RG7 3EN

Monday 27th June - 13.00 - 15.30 at Hungerford Youth and Community Centre, Priory Road, Hungerford, RG17 0AL

Monday 4th July - 10.00 - 12.30 at The Lambourn Centre Close End, Lambourn, West Berkshire, RG17 8NJ

Monday 11th July - 12.30 - 16.30 at Thatcham Rugby Club, Henwich Lane, Thatcham, RG18 3BN

Why not come along and join in the conversation. All you have to do to reserve a place is either phone 01635 760501 or e-mail info@empoweringwb.org.uk

Refreshments will be available on arrival.

FREE Neighbourhood Planning Training

CCB's Rural Housing Enabler, Arlene Kersley, is running a session for Parish Councillors, Clerks and other community activists to introduce them to the  principles and processes of Neighbourhood Plans.

Arlene has been actively involved in neighbourhood plans since 2012 and is a Locality Neighbourhood Planning Champion.

The session details are:

Date: Thursday, 30th June 2016
Time: 18.30-21.00
Venue: Woolhampton Village Hall, Bath Road, Woolhampton.

If you are interested in attending this session please complete the registration form at the link below, or call us at CCB on 0118 961 2000 for more information.

https://ccberks.wufoo.com/forms/x1maw30l0knk009/

Places are limited. A more advanced session for Neighbourhood Plan groups that are already established will be held in Autumn in the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead.

This session is funded with support from:
West Berkshire District Council Adult & Community Learning