Minutes:
We are the healthiest, finest in the land on many counts, the healthiest, most prosperous, and one of the most desirable places to live, with the lowest level of deprivation. We have not cut services, rather we are opening leisure centres, and community centres, and libraries. We unusually collect bins every week. Our financial management and prudence are rated by CIPFA as amongst one of the best despite having one of the lowest levels of Government funding. It is the result of 20 years of good Conservative administration.
I am very proud to have been at the helm these last 3 years, to steer the Borough through extremely challenging waters of Covid, Ukraine and restructuring. I have never forgotten that we are only here to serve our residents. I have brought all our partners into the orbit of the Council, making it the Golden Thread which runs through the Borough, the indispensable partner. I wanted our Officers to be proud to work here, and this to be a place to work of choice, to be confident, innovate and to make decisions. I have never criticised Officers and never will.
I was the first Leader to declare a Climate Emergency. I was the first to forbid the discharge from hospitals into care homes against Government diktat. I successfully led the national campaign against the Government’s Planning Reforms and proposed increase in housing numbers for Wokingham. Every field, tree and blade of grass lost is deeply painful to me. I am delighted that the Planning Reforms have been officially abandoned, but it is still necessary to substantially lower housing numbers in the Borough, giving control from developers to the local authority and residents. I have created the platform for job creation and prosperity for many decades to come. I was able to achieve a lot in a short period of time because of the whole hearted support of our professional team of Officers and Directors who are second to none. They espouse the ‘can do’ innovative behaviour that I wanted, and in making mistakes learning from them without fear of censure. We have done some remarkable things. I have been proud to be at the head of such a brilliant organisation, and well done to all. Working with Susan Parsonage, John Kaiser and Graham Ebers has been fun, stimulating, creative and very effective. We are truly blessed to have had them. I wish them all well and I thank them from the bottom of my heart.
We face difficult times ahead, with adverse winds and gale force increasing, but happily less severe than those that we have just endured. As a very desirable place, it means that not a square inch of the Borough is not without an option. If the Borough does not have a current and approved Local Plan with a five-year land supply, speculative development will be rife. It has currently neither. All development to date has taken place under the Core Strategy, altered by Gary.
The exclusion of Wokingham in the ICS, changes to MRP, pressures on school places, the DSG deficit devolution, Ukrainian and other refugees et al. are huge challenges. Financially, Council tax increased 1.99%, inflation 9%, with hardship and poverty increasing, and Covid and Ukraine costs, but budgets must still be balanced. There are many Councils facing financial difficulties. A Council which is bust is no good to anyone. I would have relished being at the helm to navigate the Borough through these unfavourable waters and believe that we would have come safely to dry land without a qualm. However, the good residents of Wokingham have spoken and have voted for change. It happened on my watch therefore I am responsible. I have resigned as the Leader of the Conservative Group and of the Council, and John has done so as Deputy Leader.
I thank all those who voted Conservative and supported me. It has been the honour and privilege of my life, but it is now for others. The Council is now in the hands of the coalition. You inherit a pristine Rolls Royce firing on all cylinders with barely a scratch. Please treat it with respect, do not crash it as in the past. Lib Dems you must deliver on all the promises that you have made, which are numerous. You must become Liberal and Democrat, traits which presently seem absent. Our Independents are now independent in name only, having taken the Lib Dem whip, a path which has sadly seemed only too inevitable. Labour have abandoned Labour principles to become a driving force of the coalition. A vote for Lib Dems is get Labour both locally and nationally. I shall watch with interest how the future unfolds from the relative calm of the back benches, and hope and pray that Wokingham Borough succeeds and does very well in the future. Thank you Mr Mayor for the time.