Newbury Weekly News

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Thursday, May 11, 2017
Barbecue follows
community clean
up in Clay Hill
RESIDENTS are invited to join a community
clean up in Clay Hill on Saturday, May 20.
Organised by the volunteers at the Riverside
Community Centre, the two-hour clean-up will
take place around the Clay Hill neighbourhood
and all residents are invited to join in.
Newbury town councillor Jeff Beck (Con, Clay
Hill) said: “The Riverside Community Centre is
run by volunteers on behalf of the community,
who make great use of the facilities provided.
“The maintenance of the local stretch of the
River Lambourn, together with its banks and foot-
paths, are also in the main dependent on the work
carried out by volunteers.
“Do come along on May 20 and help us in our
clean-up around the River Lambourn and
surrounding areas.
“You will find us a friendly group of people and
we will do our utmost to ensure you enjoy your
day.”
The event has been funded by the One-Stop
Carriers for Causes Grants and will be supported
by the Renewal Project and local volunteers.
All equipment will be provided and a barbecue
lunch will be held afterwards to say thank you to
all who helped.
The group will meet at Riverside Community
Centre, Rosemoor Gardens, RG14 2FG, at 10.30am.
WOOLHAMPTON’S Rowbarge
has gone from strength to
strength to be named Pub of
the Year by the West Berkshire
Campaign for Real Ale
(CAMRA).
The riverside pub won the
district accolade for its selection
of six real ales, bistro-style food
and amount of outside seating
overlooking the River Kennet.
Of the six real ales available,
the pub serves one regular and
five changing guest beers, often
including one from Vale
Brewery and West Berkshire
Brewery.
The pub’s assistant manager,
Tom Girling, said: “It is an
honour to receive this distin-
guished award of West Berkshire
CAMRA Pub of the Year.
“It really does show that all the
hard work that the team put in
here is worth it.
“We hope to be an example of
how successful a team can be if
you all pull in the same direc-
tion”
“Finally getting the recogni-
tion we all deserve is massively
rewarding and will spur each
member of the team on to emulate
the success for 2018.
“A massive thank you to all at
CAMRA for your continued
support of our regular Meet The
Brewer evenings, and also for
electing us for this award. It truly
is an honour.”
A pub since the 18th century,
The Rowbarge is located within a
few minutes’ walk of Midgham
railway station and the main bus
route between Reading and
Newbury.
West Berkshire CAMRA chair-
man Richard Scullion said:
“Over the last year The
Rowbarge has gone from
strength to strength, which is a
credit to the entire team.
“Many people will be aware of
their reputation for good food,
but you can also be assured of a
great selection of quality real
ales.
“The beer festival they held in
August 2016, their first attempt at
an event of its magnitude, was a
huge success and we wish them
all the best of luck with their
festival this August.”
Funding provider laysdown conditions forparish council
CAMRA’s top award for Rowbarge
Rowbarge deputymanager AndyPyneispresented withthePuboftheYearcertificate byWestBerksCAMRA
chairmanRichardScullion Ref:19-0617A
Greenham to keep
control tower grant
A JURY has cleared a man of
raping a woman while she
slept.
Earlier, the alleged victim
had told Reading Crown Court
of the moment she awoke to
find Christopher Ball trying to
have sex with her.
Twenty-four-year-old Mr
Ball, of Fairfield Park, West
End Road, Mortimer Common,
denied one count of rape and
another of attempted rape.
On the first day of the trial,
on Tuesday, May 2, the woman
said she had enjoyed an
evening with friends when she
decided to go to bed.
A male friend told her she
could sleep in his double bed
upstairs – something he occa-
sionally did, the court heard.
The woman, who cannot be
identified for legal reasons,
said that earlier Mr Ball and
his friend had arrived at the
same house in Mortimer.
She said she had been taking
cocaine and drinking alcohol
during the evening.
The woman added that she
had gone to sleep, but awoke
suddenly at 2.15 to find Mr Ball
on top of her. Mr Ball told the
jury he had indeed had sex
with the woman, but that it had
been entirely consensual.
It took jurors just one hour
to unanimously clear him of
both charges.
Man cleared of raping sleeping woman
GREENHAM Parish Council
has received a clean bill of
health over funding for its
flagship control tower project,
following positive talks with
grant provider Social Invest-
ment Business (SIB) last
week.
The news draws a close to
questions over how £421,000
funding from SIB was spent,
after an investigation revealed
the initial terms of the funding
agreement had been broken.
As a result of the investiga-
tion, the council was given a
June deadline to abide by a strict
set of conditions set out by SIB,
which included providing a full
breakdown of work still to be
done and a realistic plan detail-
ing how the remainder of the
project will be financed.
Following the meeting with
council representatives on May
2, SIB said it was satisfied with
the progress made and that the
conditions had been met.
In the letter to Greenham
Parish Council clerk David
Fowler, SIB’s head of
programmes Deborah Smart
said the meeting had been
“hugely helpful” and thanked
the council for providing the
information.
Responding to the letter,
Greenham Parish Council chair-
man Julian Swift-Hook said:
“I’m really pleased that our
meeting with SIB last week went
so well and that we were able to
provide them with all the infor-
mation they needed, as its letter
this week makes clear.
“Now that SIB’s project over-
sight issues have been resolved, I
think the focus has to be firmly
on getting on with what remains
to be done so that this iconic
building can be opened to the
public, hopefully later this
year.”
More than £700,000 has so far
been spent on the control tower
project, whichwill see the Grade II-
listed Cold War building converted
into a café and visitor centre.
Initially there had been fears
that SIB could claw back all or
some of the £421,555 grant after
concerns were raised over how
the funds had been spent.
However, despite finding the
initial agreement had not been
adhered to, the grant provider
determined that the council
would not need to pay the money
back if it provided a full break-
down of what work was required,
with costings and timescales; a
realistic plan detailing how the
remainder of the project will be
financed; an update which details
which partners remain involved
in the project; and re-confirma-
tion that once the project was
complete, a lease would be given
to a new body, to ensure that the
building stays in community
ownership and management for
at least 25 years.
An SIB spokesman said: “After
meeting with Greenham Parish
Council earlier this month, we
are satisfied with the progress
being made towards opening the
control tower.
“The council has agreed to
provide us with further progress
updates and we are hopeful that
this important community asset
will open for public use in the
near future.”
It is hoped the control tower
will be opened up to the public by
the end of the year. However, it is
believed the council is still in the
process of applying for a further
£100,000 loan in order to
complete the development.
Report by CHRISORD
email chris.ord@newbur
twitter @chriso_nwn
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