Don’t be down on the town

Cllr Ian Pittock, who was elected to Wokingham Borough Council as a Conservative but now sits as a Liberal Democrat, describes Wokingham not once, but twice, as ‘chaos’.

I’m perfectly happy for Ian to criticise the Council and me over the regeneration.

We have not made all the right decisions along the way although on the big issues I believe we have been proved right.

Making Langborough Road a one-way street, for example, has had the desired effect of helping the Denmark Street traffic flow more freely out of the town and I notice calls to reverse that decision have now gone away.

But what disturbs me about Ian’s letter is the effect on potential visitors considering going to Wokingham. I know the town isn’t in chaos and Ian knows that too if he’s visited recently.

There are difficulties, of course there are, but all the shops are open and accessible. All the car parks are available and the traffic flow, though not at its best, is reasonable.

But there’s one way to makes things worse and that’s to knock people’s confidence and persuade them the town isn’t worth visiting.

In the run-up to Christmas, while the Council is doing its best to help the traders by making a reasonable period of free parking available for example, Ian is rowing in the opposite direction.

Could I please ask Ian and some of your other regular letter writers and cartoonists to consider the effect of their contributions?

Especially at this time of the year, we need to be positive about the town. Cllr Chris Bowring, Executive Member for Highways and Transport, Member for Evendons Ward