IT ALL started so brightly.
The first issue of 2020 was packed with everything that you would expect a local newspaper to cover: community groups meeting, pantomime magic and features on forthcoming events. The council announced the first draft of its £24 million green deal, as it started work in earnest for being carbon neutral by 2030.
Another big project planned was to build 1,000 council homes in a bid to alleviate homelessness, both seen and hidden, across the borough.
The gig guide was full of pubs featuring live music events, and the Royals began 2020 brightly thanks to a great goal from John Swift in the club’s victory over Fulham.
Wokingham Borough Council said that it hoped plans for 15,000 homes if a new town in Grazeley would help protect other parts of the borough, and residents were concerned about Network Rail’s tree felling measures.
There was no hint of the new respiratory illness that had been making waves in Wuhan, China.
It was on January 1 that the Wuhan Muncipal Health Commission closed down a seafood market after several cases of a cluster of pneumonia cases were linked to it. Symptoms included a fever, a dry cough and breathing difficulties. A week later, on January 9, it was revealed that Covid-19 was responsible for 15 out of 59 cases.
On January 20, cases were confirmed in Thailand, Japan and South Korea – all three had links to Wuhan, a city linked to much global trade.
Three days later, Wuhan became the first city to be locked down.
At the same time, the threat to the UK was perceived to be low: similar viruses had appeared before including SARS, which had been contained to the Asian region. Arrivals from Wuhan were screened as they arrived at Heathrow Airport.
The month ended with two people in York testing positive for Covid-19 – they were from the same family and had been staying in a hotel. At the same time, a plane evacuating 83 Britons from Wuhan arrived in the UK, and Horseman Coaches ferried the arrivals from RAF Brize Norton to a hotel in Merseyside, where they were quarantined for 14 days.
In normal times, many Wokingham schoolchildren use the company to get to and from their schools, understandably some parents were concerned about safety. At the time, we knew little about the virus and how easily it transmitted.
Five coaches took the passengers and images of passengers in protective gear, but drivers wearing normal clothes went around the world.
In a statement, the company said: “Government officials confirmed that drivers wearing PPE equipment while driving posed a greater risk to the safety of passengers. This was a governmental decision based on a risk assessment conducted by the Department for Health and Public Health England.”
Although the drivers had been cleared by PHE to return to work, the company asked them to stay at home for 10 days on full pay as a precaution and the five coaches used were quarantined for 10 days in a locked compound, and cleaned to military-grade standards.
In the summer, Horseman Coaches won a We’re Good To Go Industry Standard, for its commitment to providing Covid-secure travel.
Measures include enhanced cleaning regimes.
Company director James Horseman said that they were extremely proud of the award, presented “in recognition of the extraordinary measures we have implemented to protect our passengers and staff”.
Also in January … there was relief that Linton Pet Supplies, which had sold puppies, had left Ladds Garden Village. Although the company insisted that it did everything by the book, protesters had fought a long campaign to see them vacate the centre.
A new transport strategy suggested that a motorway link could be built through the borough, but the details were vague to say the least.
The latest names for Elms Field were revealed including the borough’s first Starbucks and a soft play centre to be called Pirate’s Landing.
We also revealed that KFC were recruiting for a potential Wokingham store – around Elms Field – but while the company said it wanted to move in, it didn’t have a branch to move in to.
The Rural Pie Company held a pop-up event in Emma’s Kitchen in Twyford, giving them a taste for the centre and residents a taste of their meaty treats. The company took over the venue on a full-time basis in the autumn.
After 200 years, Newman’s shoe shop in Crowthorne announced that it was to closedown at the end of February.
Plans were made for an Easter panto at The Hexagon, featuring CBeebies legend Chris Jarvis, while amateur groups including Twyford and Ruscombe Theatre Group, which staged The Jungle Book, and Wargrave Theatre Workshop’s Anatasia.
The annual civic awards saw both youngsters and community stalwarts receive recognition for their hard work to make Wokingham a better place.
Judging for the 2021 awards took place in early December, with the winners announced in an online ceremony next month.
