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Community website for the village of Woodside, Nr Ascot in Berkshire 
With news, events and useful information

Woodside is a beautiful, historic and vibrant village of c70 houses situated in Windsor Forest, between Windsor Great Park and Ascot.  This website is intended to be an electronic community notice board, a source of useful information by the residents/for the residents and will include details of Woodside's interesting history.

The Editor of this new website is village resident, Jonathan Greenyer and he would welcome your comments and ideas of what to include in this website, material that you think would be appropriate for Woodside and make you want to visit the website regularly.

This is not a commercial operation, and The Editor would welcome direct assistance with creating content.
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WHAT'S NEW ON THIS WEBSITE?

LOCAL HONEY FOR SALE

Honey from bee hives in Woodside village is now on sale via the Duke of Edinburgh pub (price includes a charity donation to the Sebastian's Action Trust) or direct from the honey producers at 21 Woodside Road. It is £3.50 for a 1 lb Jar. 

Contact the editor for more details and to be added to the Woodside Honey e-shot database.  All those on the Honey database will be notified when each new crop of Woodside Honey has been harvested and bottled.  That's usually twice a year. 

It's probably the freshest honey you can get.

Traffic Speed throughout the village and down the main road (A332)


Concern has been communicated to me from fellow Woodside residents about the speed of vehicles down the A332 and the danger that represents to horse riders, drivers and pedestrians; and equally concerns about the speed of vehicles going through the village - which as you know has a National Speed limit of 60mph as per the main road.

I have written to RBWM and have had two emailed responses already from the Traffic Safety Officer Mr Phil Jacob who has been able to supply a great deal of relevant and useful information about the factors that influence the choice of speed limits and what options we may have if we really wanted to change the existing speed limits (in the village)

If you would like to have copies of all the correspondance between myself (on behalf of several residents) and Mr Jacob, please email The Editor as Mr Jacob is quite happy for all the correspondance to be freely circulated.

In brief the official views are as follows

1) The A332 is a typical road for a National Speed limit (60mph) "
given the lack of frontages, few junctions, Schools, public amenities etc."

2) With regard to the National Speed Limit (60mph) being the speed limit in Woodside.  "...However, the Highway Code recognises that even with a speed limit, that does not imply that any such limit is the safe speed at which to travel even on a de-restricted road. The choice of an appropriate and safe speed is the responsibility of the driver..."

3) Lower speed limits in Woodside can be petitioned for via the local council, but even were they adopted...." it would be unlikely to ever receive any form of enforcement and thereafter it would fall into disrepute with the regular users and no benefit will have been gained"

Further correspondance is being exchanged.

They will be monitoring speeds and traffic levels around the area over the next 6-8 weeks to provide further input to this enquiry.


Editor's Comment: Monday 31st August 2010

Is it really a fantastic Blue Bin Recycling Scheme in RBWM?

RBWM blue bin scheme for rewarding recycling paper, glass and tins is being promoted as a great success.  The uptake has been fantastic and the Government is right behind it.  You get a shiny new blue waterproof wheelie bin that doesn't drip water on your feet when you take the rubbish out and then you can get up to £130-150 worth of points/rewards to spend in local stores including M&S if you recycle properly.  What could be better? Recycling is truly a great idea so lets support any initiatives to encourage it. Well done RBWM, it has worked. The trial scheme in RBWM scheme was set up for the council by an outside company (American RecycleBank firm ) who specialise in Recycling Incentives.

But is it the incentive or the blue bins themselves that worked? What do you think of the rewards offered? Did they initially seem a strong "cash" incentive when you read about them? Are they real rewards? Or is it just flummery?

Looking at media coverage of the scheme it does look like the media thought the scheme was going to include vouchers to spend in shops, not discount vouchers - actual spendable vouchers.

Daily Mail Sept 2009:

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead (RBWM) has launched the country's first rubbish reward scheme, which will give shopping vouchers to residents who recycle enthusiastically. The new scheme is being tried as a six-month pilot at 3,750 homes across the borough, with extra points available for anyone who signs up for extra recycling before Christmas.

It's the first time the American scheme has been used in the UK to cover materials such as paper, cardboard, plastic, glass and metal. The best recyclers will win points towards a maximum £130 a year in vouchers for goods and meals at local shops and restaurants, including Marks & Spencer.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1211770/Council-launches-pilot-reward-families-recycle-rubbish-properly-Marks--Spencer-shopping-vouchers.html#ixzz0xQz3ODne

So to clarify exactly what type of offers they were - money-off vouchers or spendable cash vouchers - I wrote to RBWM council and have this reply. 

(extract of reply from RBWM)

It is hoped that with over 105 reward partners offering a wide variety of offers that this goes beyond a perceived value and provides a direct benefit to all residents in their day to day living.   We believe that this system does provide an incentive to recycle as our customers receive points based on their recycling efforts that they would not ordinarily receive. The scheme is not limited to money off rewards and points can be accrued toward free swimming sessions at the local leisure centres, tickets for the cinema, or even donated to local schools to help them achieve an environmental project. All rewards, vouchers and offers are provided directly by the businesses and are not subsidised in any way by the Council. 

I hope this information is helpful, please do not hesitate to contact me if you would like to discuss this matter further.
 

Yours sincerely, 

Rowan RalleyService Development Officer RBWM 

.....So that clarifies it for everyone.  The vouchers are discounts, money-off goods and services in your local area; or you can donate them to charity. The offers (welcome as they are) are really no stronger than those included in a typical mailshot from Homebase or DFS.

Personally, I'd have been very happy with just the new blue wheelie bins - as they are:-

a) large enough for the recyclable waste we generate,
b) they protect the recyclable waste from the wind, rain and animals
c) they don't drip water down your trousers when you take the rubbish out in the evening

Sometimes the simple solutions are the best solutions!

Editor

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Many thanks for this live feed from Swan Lake 


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