Minutes:
I would like to thank the residents of Wokingham Borough for the confidence in and support shown for the Liberal Democrats in the recent local election. This is much appreciated. I acknowledge that Brexit had some impact but residents raised many local issues of concern during the campaign, including the threat from huge numbers of houses being pushed on to Wokingham Borough, and the quality and availability of local services provided by the Council. We will continue to put pressure on the ruling Conservatives on these and other issues.
The Liberal Democrats will continue to fight the huge number of houses being pushed on to Wokingham by the Conservative Government. If we do not fight this overdevelopment now, our area will be changed and changed forever. When our green space is gone, it is gone. We must use every means possible to prevent developers from destroying the character of the Borough. We believe there needs to be a significant change in the approach taken by the Council on the Local Plan. We must, for example, prevent developers from cutting down trees and destroying hedgerows in an inappropriate manner. The Council should be prepared to take legal action against these and other developers who act in an inappropriate way, destroying our local environment. The impact of the development is only one of the issues where, in our view, the Council has not done enough. Our planet is coming under ever-increasing threat from climate change and we should be playing our part in tackling it, and I am pleased that John has mentioned this part there. We also need to look at the other environmental issues including air quality.
There is no doubt in our minds that the quality of services has suffered in recent years and that the Council is stretched. We are concerned about Adult Social Care and regret that the initiative started last year to work cross-party on this issue for the benefit of residents, seems to have floundered.
The recent Ofsted inspection on the Council’s Special Educational Needs Capability, was not acceptable. The ruling Conservatives have allowed the Council’s Children’s Services area to be decimated over the last two to three years. It has been underfunded and neglected by you.
The new leadership has talked about improved cooperation between the two groups, something I have always been willing to support. The ruling Conservative Group has an opportunity now to do this. The Liberal Democrats produced an amendment to the Budget at February’s Council meeting. Within that amendment, were two proposals providing additional funding of £70,000 for the Council’s SEND service to help reduce the number of exclusions in primary schools, and also £230,000 for the Children’s and Adolescent Mental Health Service, known as CAMHS. If the Conservative Group are serious about listening to residents and to the Opposition, they could introduce a supplementary estimate, provide additional resources for these two services at a future Council Executive. I would also hope that the Labour Party could support such measures. This is, we believe, a more practical way of working together for the benefit of our residents. It is more than just focusing on who is and who is not on a particular committee or working group.