‘Hurst comes first’: After 22 years popular councillor to move on
AN energetic councillor who’s had 100 residents honouring his service, has revealed two surprises.
Firstly: Cllr Wayne Smith, who is standing down after 22 years as a Hurst councillor, had never voted in any election when he moved to the village.
It was only because a Conservative borough councillor knocked on his door just after he arrived that he became involved in the world of councils and elections.
Cllr Smith seems remarkably non-political. “People vote for me regardless of politics. People should vote for you for what you do, rather than anything else,” he told Wokingham Today.
Secondly: as the parish council chairman for 20 years, he’s led many planning battles, celebrations and improvements, but he’s not had enough.
He’s just announced he will stand for election in May, as a Conservative borough councillor in the new ward of Wargrave.
“I think it’s time I put some energy into the place where I live,” he said. He has been Hurst’s borough councillor for 12 years.
Hurst residents have flooded
the village’s social media with tributes.
Paul Martin said: “It was a privilege to work with you ... You injected so much enthusiasm and professionalism into the parish council, which has helped Hurst become a better place to live.”
Without Cllr Smith’s inspiration for the village to employ a lawyer to successfully fight the Lodge Road appeal for 200 homes last year “the village would have changed for the worse. You put so much into the appeal for which we are all immensely grateful,” he added.
Cllr Smith is the chief operating officer for an energy company, a big job, but he’s made much time for his Hurst work – as witnessed by his family’s catchphrase “Hurst comes first” when an activity is swerved by village events.
He paid tribute to his wife Jennifer saying: “She is my rock, she has been really supportive and enabled me to do it all.”
They have two grown-up sons.
Within days of the Smith family moving to Hurst in 2000 borough councillor Annette Drake called. Wayne helped to successfully oppose new homes and a tile factory near his home.
“It all snowballed from there. I joined Hurst Village Society and then the parish council. Very quickly, I started chairing the council,” he said.
Mrs Drake asked if he would stand to replace her at Wokingham Borough Council.
Planning is a big issue in Hurst: “There has been a constant battle. Hurst is the largest parish in Wokingham borough. I think most people look at it as green space.
“It has been designated as a low-development area. It’s very low-lying, a lot is in the floodplain. Despite all that, the developers know it is a very nice village. They want to build because they can realise good prices.”
Cllr Smith walked round the village with the Lodge Road inquiry inspector “for three hours looking at the lack of facilities like a full-sized food shop and the irregular bus service. The inspector said it was an unsustainable location,” he said.
The parish council had seen off the threat from the boroughwide Call for Sites for building land on 53 very large sites. Hurst would have been “changed out of all recognition”, he said.
They had fought Government plans for the borough to have 1,600 new homes a year instead of 865. The parish council had successfully opposed new homes in Broadcommon Road.
As the borough’s executive member for planning for three years, Cllr Smith was dealt with the hammer blow in 2021 to a new 15,000-home garden town at Grazeley. The expansion of the Atomic Weapons Establishment emergency zone meant the plan was scrapped.
“I was dreadfully frustrated because we didn’t get Grazeley through,” said Cllr Smith. “We’d spent years producing the plan. At the 11th hour we had to look for other sites.
“A new garden town would have meant facilities like schools, supermarkets and medical centres with the homes, rather than attaching developments onto existing communities in a way that isn’t sustainable.”
He added: “I don’t think we have planning right in this country”, saying It should be strategic, involving larger areas. In Berkshire, there could be a large new town, like Milton Keynes, with infrastructure.
Away from housing, Hurst parish council started the St Nicholas Night celebrations, supported by local businesses. The School Road play area was improved. Cllr Smith and fellow parish councillor Paul Martin worked for many Sundays improving the Davis Street play area with offenders undertaking Community Payback.
Cllr Smith praised other councillors including Michael Holdstock for his hands-on work, the late Howard Larkin’s planning work and Tony Mansfield for help on speeding.
He thanked Cllr Paul Palmer, who started the Hurst Facebook group in covid and had led the “brilliant” Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations. “We couldn’t have done it without him,” he said.
The parish council had revitalised the School Road pond, thanks to villager David Bond and Haines Hill estate.
Cllr Smith, a Hurst Consolidated Charity trustee, also helped Hurst Football Club.
He added: “I enjoy helping people, getting resolutions and answers. I have a network at the borough council and a broad knowledge of business operations. I like to find solutions, engaging with others.
“That is where I see my skillset.”