By Cllr Clive Jones
How do we plan for what we want the future to look like in the borough?
Wokingham Borough Council is embarking on a new approach to thinking about the future – one that is centred on the community’s own aspirations.
In the past, the council has drawn up its own strategy and then consulted on it. Now we want to involve our external partners in shaping a vision for the future that the council will then seek to implement through its strategy and policies.
For the first time, the council is embracing a bottom-up rather than a top-down approach
The key here is involvement of the council’s external partners throughout the process, not just at the end as a way of validating the council’s own views. This will truly be a borough vision, jointly authored by a range of interested parties, not just the council.
To kick off the process, next week will see a meeting in Wokingham Town Hall of representatives from town and parish councils, voluntary bodies, equalities groups, businesses, faith groups, schools, young people, and Reading University to discuss the new approach.
The meeting will be facilitated not by the council, but by an organisation called New Local, which specialises in community engagement.
The council will be represented by the leaders of the different political groups and the chief executive and senior officers, but the council will be there as an equal partner with the other bodies, not as the managers of the event.
The opening session next week will be followed up by a series of workshops in February and March to enable us to share views and begin the task of preparing a borough vision that will shape the council’s strategy over the coming years.
Much of the work if the council is inevitably focused on the here and now – especially the immediate pressures created by the current financial situation.
But we have to lift our eyes from the immediate challenges and look ahead to map out a future that we can all feel part of.
I’m very pleased that so many local bodies have committed to attending the event next week and the follow-up workshops.
I’m especially pleased to see the enthusiasm of young people to be involved.
Their views are vital if we are to create a robust vision for the future if our borough. After all, our young people are the future; it’s right and proper that they should play a part in shaping it.
Cllr Clive Jones is the leader of Wokingham Borough Council and ward member for Hawkedon
