Newbury News
The latest Newbury news: planning decisions, council and crime updates, business and community stories, each linked back to its official source.
Top story
Donnington Heights School: Council Refuses Bid to Drop It
West Berkshire Council refused David Wilson Homes' bid to scrap the Donnington Heights school site and £4m fund on 2 October. The developer can appeal.
More stories
Schools
West Berkshire Parent Pact: 581 Families Delay Smartphones
581 West Berkshire parents at 73 schools have signed a pact to delay smartphones until 14. Cold Ash's St Finian's head explains how her school backs it.
Newbury
Newbury PSPO: Have Your Say Before 9 November
Police want Newbury's town centre anti-social behaviour order kept for three more years; 42 orders to leave since 2024. Have your say by 9 November.
Thatcham
Thatcham Festival 2026: 9 to 18 October, Nothing Over £7
Thatcham Festival runs 9 to 18 October: a free street party on a traffic-free High Street, a blue plaque for the town's Mesolithic past, and nothing over £7.
Thatcham
Thatcham Fire Was Accidental, Started by a Battery
The Colthrop Lane fire was accidental and started with a battery, the fire service says. Crews spent 25 hours on 150 tonnes of batteries and left on Wednesday.
West Berkshire
West Berkshire Council £9.3m Over Budget on Children's Care
West Berkshire Council forecasts a £9.3m overspend, £8.2m of it in children's services. Its main reserve could fall from just over £10m to about £1m.
West Berkshire
Grazeley Solar Farm: Council Backs £15m, Bids to Supply AWE
West Berkshire Council has backed £15m for a 20MWp solar farm near Grazeley and will bid to sell its power to AWE. The detailed figures are confidential.
Roads
West Berkshire Highways Group: Questions Due 26 September
Five councillors will meet in public on 6 October to review West Berkshire's road programme. Residents can send questions, but only until Saturday 26 September.
Newbury
Newbury Manor Hotel: 25 Homes, None Affordable, £75,367
Policy required eight affordable homes on site. The developer will build none and pay £75,367, cut by £25,373 at the meeting itself to fund GP capacity.
Hungerford
Hungerford Chestnut Walk Approved, Security Not Conditioned
Councillors approved the former care home for up to 16 residents. Police wanted 24-hour security conditioned; officers said that is not a planning matter.
House Prices
West Berkshire House Prices Rise as Rest of Berkshire Falls
West Berkshire was the only Berkshire district where prices rose in the year to July, up 0.4% to £403,682. June's rise has now been revised into a fall.
West Berkshire
West Berkshire Youth Claimants Hit 460, Up 30% in a Year
460 people aged 18 to 24 claimed out-of-work benefits in West Berkshire in August, up 30% in a year and the most since 2021. Newbury's wards led the rise.
Aldermaston
Aldermaston Traveller Site: 5 October Leave Date Likely
The High Court has continued the injunction on the Reading Road site near Aldermaston and named 5 October as the likely leave date. Ruling due 4pm Monday.
Thatcham
West Berkshire Crematorium Shuts 26 Sep for 17 Days
West Berkshire Crematorium closes from Saturday 26 September and holds no services again until Tuesday 13 October, a 17-day gap for a chapel rebuild.
Roads
Newbury Road Resurfacing 2026: Just 150 Metres
West Berkshire will treat 45.6km of road this year. Newbury's share is 150 metres, on Monks Lane. Lambourn gets 8,049. The pavement list is the other way round.
What's On
Newbury Heritage Open Days: 13 Free Sites From Friday
Shaw House opens free on 13 and 20 September, where a family normally pays £25, with rare Bake House tours. Twelve more sites open near Newbury and one is already full.
Newbury
Newbury Taxi Plates: Vote Monday on 35 Saloon Exemptions
Counsel says a permanent exemption is the least defensible option. Councillors decide the future of 35 pre-2001 Newbury taxi plates on Monday afternoon.
Hungerford
Croft Hall Hungerford: Licence Bid Dropped, Hearing Off
The trustees pulled the application before Thursday's hearing, which is now cancelled. Sixteen residents objected. Police, fire and environmental health did not.
Schools
West Berkshire Schools: £6.4m of Summer Building Work
Eight projects at seven schools cost £6,421,852. Falkland gets its £4.6m block in October; Thatcham Park's £828,000 early years building opened in July.
Newbury
Newbury Town Centre Reopens to Cars at 5pm From September
The 11pm pedestrian zone trial ends early. From September, Northbrook Street and five other streets reopen to traffic at 5pm, after 744 of 1,019 backed it.
West Berkshire
20mph Dropped in Cold Ash, Hermitage and Four More Villages
West Berkshire has scrapped 20mph limits in six villages. Objections beat support in all six, and its own report says collisions would not have fallen.
Buses
Newbury Buses Get Sunday Service and a 23:30 Last Bus
Routes 2 and 8 gain Sunday buses from 6 September, and the Friday and Saturday last bus from Newbury Wharf moves to 23:30. Full new times below.
Hungerford
Hungerford Chestnut Walk: Police Lodge Holding Objection
Thames Valley Police lodged a holding objection, saying it was never consulted. The register shows 21 comments, 19 of them objections and none in support.
Thatcham
Thatcham Banking Hub: Old Lloyds Unit Bid, Comment by 11 Sep
Cash Access UK wants to move Thatcham's banking hub into the Kingsland Centre unit Lloyds left in 2022. Comments close 11 September, decision due 13 October.
West Berkshire
West Berkshire Youth Claimants Up 26%, Highest Since 2021
West Berkshire's claimant count fell again in July, to 2,395. But 18 to 24 year olds hit 435, up 26% in a year, the steepest rise in the South East.
House Prices
West Berkshire House Prices: £402,790, Under 2025 Peak
The average West Berkshire home cost £402,790 in June, still £6,143 below its October peak. Detached homes fell, semis rose, and May was revised down £3,305.
Planning
Faraday Road 3G Pitch: New Bid In, Comment by 7 September
West Berkshire Council has reapplied for a full-size 3G pitch at Faraday Road, five months after Natural England objections. Comments close 7 September.
Planning
Great Shefford Football Pitch Covenant: Vote on 19 August
Officers want the 1988 covenant that keeps the old Spring Meadows football pitch as pitch or farmland lifted; 18 objectors and the parish council say no. Speak by 4pm Tuesday.
Schools
New Theale SEND School Juniper House: Open Day 19 August
Juniper House School opens on Englefield Road this September for up to 15 children a day plus 8 living on site, with open days on 19 August and 24 September, 11am to 2pm.
Schools
Newbury A-level results 2026: Downs 33% A*-A, Kennet 32%
The Downs School reported 33% of grades at A* or A and Kennet School 32%, against 31.5% across the South East. Every figure the two schools published.