The Newbury Times is an independent news and information site for Newbury and west Berkshire. We read the public record and publish what is in it, and we keep the practical local pages accurate.
The patch
Newbury is the anchor, on the Kennet and Avon Canal with the racecourse to the east. Thatcham adjoins it, Hungerford sits further up the canal, and the district spreads north to Lambourn and the racing valley and east to Theale, Burghfield and Pangbourne on the Thames. It is a large, mostly rural authority with one substantial town, so a single planning decision in a village can be the local story of the season.
One council, for now
West Berkshire has been a unitary authority since 1998, which means planning, waste, highways, licensing, council tax, schools and social care all sit in the same place. Its registers and committee papers are the most direct record of what is going to change here, and almost nobody reads them.
What changes in 2028
West Berkshire is the one Berkshire unitary affected by the current reorganisation. It is due to join a new Ridgeway authority in April 2028, formed with the Vale of White Horse and most of South Oxfordshire, which means this area will be run from an authority spanning two present-day counties. We will report each stage from the published documents and keep our reference pages pointing at whoever actually answers on the day you read them.
What we work from
The council’s planning register and committee papers, licensing notices, police.uk crime data, HM Land Registry sold prices, Food Standards Agency hygiene ratings, Environment Agency flood warnings for the Kennet, the Lambourn and the Thames, and company filings in The Gazette.
Tips and corrections
Email hello@newburytimes.co.uk with a tip, an event worth listing, or a correction. Tips are treated in confidence, and corrections are made quickly and noted on the page.
The Newbury Times is part of Future Business Media.