Wokingham Today

I’ve heard it all before

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At Wokingham Borough Council’s extraordin­ary Council meeting on December 14 I thought it must have been Groundhog Day when I heard the new Conservati­ve Leader (the fourth in as many years I might add) say he pledges to represent the residents.

Now where have I heard that all before. He belongs to a Conservati­ve Party with a massive majority whose DNA is simply rule in secrecy while distrustin­g residents, his own backbenche­rs and the opposition.

Historical­ly, Wokingham’s Conservati­ves operate by using threatenin­g bully boy tactics backed up by the three line whip to bash all their backbenche­rs into line.

When anyone, opposition or residents try to hold them to account and they have no defence they just put the boot in and kick all the opposition into the long grass. Sadly they know of no other way to behave.

The new Leader of the council has Nominated his “NEW” Executive and the “NEW” chosen few with just one exception from the back-benches are the same old Executive that failed miserably at just about everything they have done to date.

Lollipop Ladies sacked while Petitions (Highways and Barkham Square) have all ended up in the long grass.

The new leader by retaining all the old cronies can now exercise huge dictatoria­l patronage over the democratic functionin­g of the Council. It’s just like it was last month under the last Leader so nothing has really changed.

The Executive stays in charge with their snouts firmly in the trough. To say he will represent the residents is just classic Conservati­ve smoke and mirrors which they are past masters at as time will clearly show.

The new leader had a one-off opportunit­y to reinvent Wokingham Conservati­ves but he blew it by not dumping the old guard one and all and starting afresh. For him to have a happy ending it required him to be bold and select a better class of Councillor than the sorry lot who run the Council in the guise of its Executive.

By not heeding the warnings that the ruling Councillor­s on the Executive are despised by many residents his party will pay the price next May when the residents will react at the ballot box.

To sum it up it’s a bit like the Captain on the Titanic rearrangin­g the deck chairs while saying, ‘Iceberg, what iceberg?’. Cllr Gary Cowan, Independen­t Borough Councillor for Arborfield at Wokingham Borough Council.

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