By Cllr Pauline Jorgensen
I am proud that during the Conservatives’ leadership of the Council, Wokingham Borough was consistently ranked one of the best places in the country.
We want to build on this success, whether people are here to live, raise a family, or do business.
We have published our manifesto because we believe it is important to be honest and clear with voters. It is important that all political parties are consistent and keep the promises they make. We want you to be clear what you’re voting for, and that you can hold us to account for it.
Central to all our policies is putting residents and local businesses at the heart of everything we do. We are committed to ensuring future Council consultations are meaningful. From talking to residents, from petitions, and from consultation results, we know that residents want their Council to maintain weekly bin collections, invest in roads maintenance and anti-congestion measures, and scrap the punishing increase in car parking charges – and that is exactly what we will do.
Our manifesto puts your concerns at the centre of the Conservatives’ pledges.
We are also committed to:
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no cuts to customer-facing services
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keeping fees and charges fair
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ensuring the Council will have balanced and sustainable finances
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completing a new Local Plan to protect the Borough from planning by appeal while continuing to campaign to cut the Borough’s housing numbers
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supporting expansion of Bohunt School
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accelerating the installation of solar panels on school buildings – a programme started by the previous Conservative administration
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continuing our regeneration schemes to replace worn-out Council homes
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providing free food caddy liners to be collected at libraries and Council offices – to help residents recycle more
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continuing the Conservative programme of investment in leisure centres, libraries, parks, and playgrounds
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increasing capacity of Local Authority care homes to provide good quality care for residents who need it.
The Council has been nominated for awards in social housing, connecting residents to health and wellbeing services, delivering sustainability from the Wokingham regeneration, and working with the voluntary sector. All these nominations were for projects completed under the previous Conservative administration. We want to build on this work. We are ambitious for our Borough. We want residents and local businesses to thrive.
When residents made the decision to leave the Council with no overall control last May, they signalled that they wanted something different. We accept that. But a year on, it’s becoming increasingly clear to local people that the Liberal Democrat-led experiment has not only failed, but it is also one that they can ill-afford.
The Liberal Democrats’ record is one of dither and delay on planning and development, on education and schools, and on investing in the future.
The Liberal Democrats have no plan.
Under them parking charges are doubling, weekly waste collections are being cut, and road maintenance and pothole repair budgets have been frozen. What’s more, Liberal Democrats have ignored residents by disregarding consultations and petitions and attempting to stifle debate.
I believe you deserve better. You deserve an administration that will invest in services, not cut them.
You deserve to have your taxes and charges kept to a level you can afford. You deserve to have a Council Leader who will listen to you and actually act to cut housing numbers and plan for future development, not just talk about it.
You deserve to have a Council that will deliver on local communities’ priorities.
You will get all this if you elect a Conservative administration on May 4.
Cllr Pauline Jorgensen is the leader of Wokingham Conservatives, and ward member for Hillside. She is not a candidate in this year’s local elections
