Wokingham Council This Week: £24m Homes Plan Approved

Wokingham Borough Council’s Executive met on Thursday 24 September and approved a £24 million programme to buy homes for council housing. It also sent the Sonning Neighbourhood Plan to a public vote. The decision sheets were published on Friday 25 September (Wokingham Borough Council, printed decisions).

The decisions take effect on Monday 28 September. Councillors can call them in for scrutiny until Friday 2 October.

Next week is quiet. The only meeting with a published date is the religious education advisory council on Monday.

What the Executive decided on 24 September

£24 million to buy council homes. The Executive approved a budget spread over 2026/27, 2027/28 and 2028/29 to buy homes in the borough for council housing. It will be paid for from:

• Housing Revenue Account borrowing
• Right to Buy receipts
• commuted sums from developers
• capital receipts
• outside grants where available

Up to £5.5 million of the commuted sums may go through the council’s Local Housing Company. Individual purchases will be decided by officers with the Leader and the executive member for housing. We covered the plan before the meeting: up to 165 more homes.

Sonning Neighbourhood Plan goes to a referendum. The Executive accepted the changes recommended by the independent examiner and agreed a referendum in the Sonning neighbourhood area. The decision sheet does not give a date for the vote.

£41 million transport programme sent to government. The Executive noted a capital programme of £41 million and a revenue programme of £4.59 million, both Department for Transport funding. It authorised officers to submit the Local Transport Delivery Plan to the department. It also noted the council must settle how it will procure a new highways maintenance contract by June 2027. Our earlier report has the detail: £20m on repairs and 20mph zones.

Optalis care contract renewal recommended. The Executive recommended that full council renews the adult care services contract with Optalis, at about £15.2 million for 2027-28. Cllr David Hare declared a prejudicial interest as a director of Optalis and left the room for the item.

Community safety strategy recommended. The Wokingham Borough Safer Communities Strategy 2026-31 goes to full council for approval.

Children’s care homes strategy approved. The Children’s Social Care Sufficiency Strategy for October 2026 to September 2029 forecasts that the council will need 51 more placements for children in its care over the period.

Report tracking system ruled out, for now. The Executive agreed its response to Motion 529. A single system for residents to track their reports is not viable now because of cost and complexity. It will take a phased approach instead. We reported the costings last week: why parcel-style tracking was ruled out.

Meetings in the week ahead

Further ahead

These meetings are in the council’s calendar for the middle of October (Wokingham Borough Council meetings calendar):

• Monday 12 October, 7pm: Joint Public Protection Committee
• Tuesday 13 October, 7pm: Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee
• Wednesday 14 October, 10am: Schools Forum
• Wednesday 14 October, 7pm: Planning Committee
• Thursday 15 October, 7pm: extraordinary meeting of the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee
• Wednesday 21 October, 7pm: Community and Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee
• Thursday 22 October, 7pm: full council

What it means for you

• To see what is being decided, agendas and reports are published on the council’s modern.gov site before each meeting.
• To ask about a decision, contact democratic services at democratic.services@wokingham.gov.uk.
• If you live in Sonning, watch for the referendum date. Neighbourhood plan referendums are open to people registered to vote in the area.
• For planning applications near you, see our Wokingham planning news page.