Advertiser review of the year – August

August contained bad news for travellers as Crossrail was hit by more delays. The Elizabeth Line, which will link Maidenhead and Slough directly with central London and beyond, was meant to be complete in 2018.

But COVID-19 was named as one mitigating factor as it was announced on August 21 that people in the town would not be able to ride the full line until 2023.

Students across the Royal Borough celebrated success in their A-Levels and GCSEs, with results this year calculated differently due to the loss of exams owing to the pandemic.

Advertiser reporters and photographers could not visit each school but kept tabs on results from home.

In politics, former Conservative councillor Gurch Singh was accepted into the Liberal Democrat group. An executive meeting was held by the Lib Dems where a number of allegations that had been made against Cllr Singh by Conservative members were considered.

Elsewhere, concerns were raised about the Government’s planning reforms. The Government’s proposed changes, entitled ‘Planning For the Future’, could see alterations to the way planning permission works.

But town figures, including the Maidenhead Civic Society, feared the changes could threaten local democracy.

The soon-to-be long-running saga of missed bin collections began in August. The council returned to new weekly collections after lock-down with its contractor, Serco, and put the issues down to ‘teething problems’.

Meanwhile, green-fingered residents got creative for the Royal Borough’s Garden in Bloom contest, which took place online for the first time.

The event was supported by the Maidenhead Chamber of Commerce and saw colourful creations in wards across the borough.

People flocked to restaurants as the Government introduced its ‘Eat Out To Help Out’ scheme, providing discount on meals out.

There were also commemorations for VJ (Victory in Japan) Day across the borough, marking the day on which Imperial Japan surrendered in World War Two, in effect bringing the war to an end.