By Cllr Prue Bray
Good news stories around local government are few and far between at the moment.
Councils everywhere are struggling to keep services running despite huge financial pressures. For some, poor past decision-making has already meant they have effectively gone bust, with Woking in Surrey being the most recent to declare they cannot continue without government intervention.
In Wokingham Borough we are relatively financially stable, but it is still a battle every day to keep costs down and still provide the services people need.
And all the while, having to explain that most of the council’s budget goes on vulnerable adults and children, with little left over for all the things most visible to Council Tax payers, such as pot holes, grass-cutting and bins.
So for once, it was great to have something to celebrate last week.
The Municipal Journal Achievement Awards 2023 ceremony took place on June 23.
The Municipal Journal is a weekly magazine that covers local government and its awards attract a strong field of nominations from across the UK. This year Wokingham Borough Council was shortlisted in four categories, the most of any council, and I am delighted to say that we won two awards, again, the most of any council.
The awards we won were Best Social Housing Initiative and Innovation in Delivering Sustainability and Social Value.
As well as congratulating the staff who worked so hard on both the winning and shortlisted projects, we also want to celebrate the projects themselves.
The Best Social Housing Initiative was awarded for a development of Adult Social Care Specialist Accommodation, which has provided 36 new units so that some of our most vulnerable residents can live in their own accommodation with long-term affordable tenancies, and the right sort of cost-effective care and support – and reducing our carbon footprint at the same time.
The Innovation in Delivering Sustainability and Social Value award was given for the regeneration of Wokingham town centre. Now, I don’t think it is a secret that I was personally very opposed to the loss of green space at Elms Field, but there was never any doubt that investment in Wokingham town centre was necessary, both to help the shops and businesses, and to provide more town centre accommodation. Nor is there any doubt that the new facilities at the Carnival Hub leisure centre are fantastic.
Neither of these projects would have succeeded without partnerships – a theme close to this Liberal Democrat administration’s heart. One involved landlords, developers and care providers, the other developers, businesses, the town council and our leisure services provider. Both show what can be achieved when the council works with others.
And both show that despite all the difficulties and the brickbats that get thrown at the council, it really does feel worth it when you can see the positive difference you can make to the lives of individuals and the community as a whole.
Cllr Prue Bray is the deputy leader of Wokingham Borough Council and ward member for Winnersh
