‘Council is placing us in the dark over new road open date’
A Sindlesham resident has said that trying to get a reply from Wokingham Borough Council (WBC) is proving to be almost impossible.
Roberta Tweedy, 75, contacted the council to try and find out when Phase 1 of the Winnersh Relief Road was scheduled to open.
She says residents had been assured at a public meeting that the new road would remain closed to through traffic until Phase II was completed sometime in 2020.
However, after hearing there were plans to open Phase 1 in the near future, Ms Tweedy contacted Wokingham Borough Council to ask if the previous assurances were still in place.
That was over a week ago and Ms Tweedy is angry she and Sindlesham residents are still in the dark over the Borough's plans.
“In the old days, you could phone the council and speak to someone direct who would give you the information and that was that,” she told The Wokingham Paper.
“Now, members of the public have to phone the council’s main number, which I did. I asked when the relief road was being opened.
“The first girl asked me to hold while she went away to get the information. I held on, all the while listening to dreadful music. She returned, saying she couldn’t tell me so I asked a supplementary question and, again, she put me on hold.”
Ms Tweedy said she was transferred to another person who was also unable to tell her a start date for the new road. She was asked to put her question in writing but her email to the highways department bounced back.
After three attempts she tried an email to customer services which went through.
“Despite sending my request over a week ago I haven’t even received an acknowledgment. Maybe someone is looking into it but I won’t hold my breath.
“It seems it is the policy of Wokingham Borough Council not to give out details of heads of departments to people who wish to contact them.
“Are they running a secret society there? They are certainly not behaving as servants of the people of the Borough but as their own fiefdom, carrying on without care for those who pay their wages through council tax.
“I looked on the WBC website and found the names of senior staff. It seems 132 people are paid more than £50,000, but as the information hasn’t been updated since 2016 what good is that?
“The whole thing is a complete shambles and I think it needs to be brought to the attention of the people who live in the Borough. No other business would get away with this behaviour so why should they?”
A spokesman for WBC said it was their policy to acknowledge all emails and apologised Robert had not been contacted.
Interim Director of Environment Josie Wragg said: “The Winnersh Relief Road phase 1 is being built by the developer, Bovis, and Wokingham Borough Council’s role is to make sure it is built legally and safely.
“The council is currently waiting for all parties involved to sign a final legal agreement and for the last snagging issues on the road to be resolved before it can be opened.
“Once the council is satisfied with the condition of the road and the legal agreement is signed, we will publicise the opening date via social media and other channels.”