Greenham Parish Assembly 2026

Greenham Parish Assembly 2026 was attended by 26 residents & Cllrs who networked over a buffet at the Control Tower and enjoyed short presentations by those community groups present. Speakers shared what they do and how they add value to the community.

Cllr Chris Austin shared what the council can and cannot do. They can offer an opinion on planning but West Berkshire makes the decisions. We can use some of the precept to provide small grants, called S137 grants, to local community groups to help them with their work but we can’t paint double yellow lines, that’s WBC.

Rob Daniels from Greenham Trust spoke about his role overseeing their grant giving. Their committees meet eight times a year and distributes an average of £3.5 million to local good causes annually. They also match fund a significant portion of our grants, effectively doubling the resources available to us — support for which we are extremely grateful.

Sue Ellis from West Berkshire Heritage Forum talked of having 50 heritage assets in the local area and they are always happy to hear from people who feel a blue plaque should be installed to celebrate a local person who has done something of note.

Rachel from Swing & Smiles talked of helping families who have a disabled member get some respite.

Ryan and Dan from Berkshire Youth talked of the work they do and their up and coming first anniversary party which will be at the Greenham Community Centre on Saturday

Jon Gage from The Control Tower shared how the cafe is coming on leaps and bounds and is funding their outreach programme to the community. 

Rev Gail Minter of St Mary’s Church is looking for more community groups to knock on her door to use the community building they have on site which could be better utilised. 

Fran Chamings shared how grateful West Berks Foodbank is to those groups who are allowing them to do outreach. Also to GPC for giving a grant to their advisory service which is helping many families access resources they were unaware of / didn’t know how to access.

Robert Thompson from West Berkshire Citizens Advice shared how their team of volunteers has similarly helped residents to the tune of over £1m and thanked local councils for providing grants as they are not a Gov funded body, which many believe they are.

Cllr Alison Blackborow, with her Greener Greenham Group shared how they are trying to make many small improvements for the local people to enjoy.

Cllr Steve Allan talked of a survey that will be happening shortly to establish if residents would like GPC to take on the David Wilson Homes marketing suite and turn it into a community space, once the house sales are complete.

Cllr Chris Austin thanked those who gave a presentation for their ongoing efforts to help the community and invited everyone to enjoy more of the buffet ;)

If you’d like to add your community group to the list of those that serve Greenham Parish then please, complete the form here…

Thank you.

Jon Davey - Clerk