| Newbury Town Council has been awarded a grant of £4,532 from the Quality Parishes Investment Fund. Newbury is the only Quality Council in West Berkshire, and therefore the only local council eligible to apply for a grant from this new national fund.
Leader of Newbury Town Council, Councillor Gillian Durrant said “I am delighted that we have been successful in obtaining this grant. The money will enable us to do several things we would not otherwise have been able to afford this year. This is the first concrete benefit of achieving the new Quality Council status, and hopefully not the last!”
Graham Hunt, the Chief Executive Officer of Newbury Town Council explained how the money would be spent. “Approximately £2,500 will be spent on improving security in the football pitch changing rooms, to deter vandalism, and the remaining amount will be split between purchasing new display boards for the council chamber, and an additional contribution to the Town Centre Management Steering Group – partnership working was one of the criteria for the grant.”
The total available to the 118 quality councils in the country was £450,000. The money came from DEFRA and the Countryside Agency and was distributed by the National Association of Local Councils. | 
