Veolia and West Berkshire Council soil conditioner give-away event

Back by popular demand, West Berkshire Council are working in partnership with its waste contractor Veolia to give away soil conditioner to local residents, for free!

On Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 March 2023, between 10:00am until 4:00pm, local residents will be able to pick up Veolia’s locally produced soil conditioner from our Padworth Waste Management Facility, at Padworth Lane, RG7 4JF.

The soil conditioner is produced at Padworth and is made from the food and garden waste that we collect from households within the district.

We ask that residents bring along their own bags/boxes and you must be responsible for collecting and loading the soil conditioner from the site to your own vehicle.

No appointment booking is necessary. However please bring along an ID card or a recent utility bill with you to prove you are a resident of West Berkshire. Please be patient, this is a free event and demand for our last give-away event was huge, so please expect some queues during parts of the event days. To help ease waiting times, we have increased the number of collection points and we will be re-stocking throughout the day so there is no need to get to the site early. We also ask that you only collect a reasonable amount to ensure everyone has an opportunity to make use of this offer.

In addition to the soil conditioner give-away event, during the week of 6-11 March 2023, the Council will make free compostable food waste caddy liners available from all West Berkshire Council Libraries and West Berkshire Council Reception in Newbury. If you are in the area, come and collect 1 free roll per household, by showing proof of West Berkshire address. This offer is while stocks last, please make sure to check opening times before visiting. Let’s all work together to recycle our food waste weekly.

Cllr Steve Ardagh-Walter, Executive Member for Environment and Transformation at West Berkshire Council, said: “Feedback from the soil conditioner give-away last year was tremendously positive with many requests for this to take place again. We have listened to our residents and are excited to work with Veolia on this initiative again, to provide soil conditioner free of charge to our residents.

“The soil conditioner is made from the food and garden waste we collect from residents in West Berkshire throughout the year, it is a great sustainable product made out of waste material.

“We look forward to seeing residents come along to collect the soil conditioner and use this for their personal benefit in their own gardens or allotments.”

Dave Matthews, General Manager at Veolia West Berkshire, said: "Veolia West Berkshire are very pleased to be offering the free soil conditioner to residents again this year after the success of last year’s give-away.

“We are very proud of the quality of our soil conditioner product at Veolia West Berkshire, which is created within the Padworth Facility using West Berkshire green and food waste.

“Veolia is a global champion of ecological transformation and is excited to be offering the residents of West Berkshire the environmental and social benefits of locally produced soil conditioner free of charge.”

Please note there will be vehicle restrictions in place. Vehicles listed as prohibited in the Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC) user guide (see page 12) will not be allowed. No commercial vehicles will be admitted; this is for householders only. Residents have to take necessary precautions for carrying the soil conditioner safely to their vehicle. The event organisers accept no liability for any injuries or damage that may be sustained by residents loading their vehicles with the materials.

For more information about the Council’s food waste recycling service, please visit: www.westberks.gov.uk/foodwaste.

The Planning Inspectorate has announced that the appeal lodged by Hutchison Networks to allow them to place a 16m 5G mast just by the motorway bridge on Fidlers Lane has been dismissed.

There will be no 16m on Fidlers Lane, mainly due to the highways issues with visual sight lines for vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians when coming off the A34 and round the bend into the village.  

You can read the whole report here.