The Liberal Democrat leader has unveiled manifesto pledges for May

BRINGING greater transparency to the borough council is the plan from the Wokingham Liberal Democrats, who have exclusively unveiled their manifesto to Wokingham.Today.

It includes plans to pump more than £200,000 into Children’s & Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS), to drop assessment wait times from two years to six weeks. 

Ahead of the elections on Thursday, May 6, the leader of the group, Cllr Lindsay Ferris, and deputy leader Cllr Clive Jones, revealed their approach to local politics.

Cllr Ferris, who is also a ward member for Twyford, said his ambition is to take control of the borough council and see the Lib Dem group in power.

The biggest change to residents, he said, would be the culture of the council.

“We want to be open, consultative,” he told Wokingham.Today. “We want to do consultations properly and provide high quality services in an efficient way.”

He said in 2019, there were just 170 votes that lead to the Conservative leadership, and argued that it is “not unrealistic” for the Lib Dems to push for control. 

“There is lots of work to be done, but we have well-organised, capable people, bringing an alternative vision,” he said.

“I would be a very different style of leader, I’m a very collegiate person.

“We have a really good team that are willing, ready and able to take on the running of the council.”

In an opening statement, Cllr Ferris said in the group’s manifesto: “Our vision is to establish Wokingham as a great place to live for all its residents with high quality service delivery, sustainable and appropriate development, a vibrant arts programme and the cleanest and most sustainable environment possible. 

“Residents will be at the heart of all our actions. We believe that listening to residents is one of the most important aspects of being able to deliver the services you need and want.”

The group’s manifesto falls under four categories.

Economy and housing

Cllr Ferris said the group is aiming to survey the council finances, and then create a covid recovery plan, if it is voted into control. 

“We will be pushing very strongly to ensure that not only does the council open up its services in a coordinated and constructive manner when the time allows,” Cllr Ferris said. “But we set up the arrangements where we can help businesses, self-employed people and residents across a whole range of services.

“There’s going to be people that are going to need a lot of help, I think we need to put some focus in that. And that’s what we mean, when we say we will do what we can to promote the local economic recovery investment.”

Cllr Ferris said the group has a “really good finance team” that could “ come up with some quite innovative and useful ways” of managing the books. 

Cllr Jones said the Lib Dems would also engage with business owners more, to find out “exactly what they need from the council”. 

And there is a focus across the borough.

Cllr Ferris added: “We would want to upgrade the Woodley Town Centre — when we have got the opportunity to do that.

“The high street needs that extra help to get people to go in and use the services and the shops and the facilities that are there.”

The group also plans to prioritise arts and culture in the borough.

“That part of the community has been really badly hit [by the pandemic] and that they are going to need a lot of help to be able to get up and running,” Cllr Ferris said. “So many of us are just looking forward to having something that we can enjoy and go to and be entertained by.”

Cllr Ferris also called for a “cross section” of housing that would meet the needs of the community.

He said this would include affordable one- to three-bed homes, including bungalows, flats and more social housing. 

“It’s so expensive around here,” he said. “There are so many people who cannot get onto the housing ladder.”

He said new developments need to be “future proofed” for climate change.

“We will be pushing developers to make sure they up their standards,” he said.

And the Lib Dem group would also call for reduced housing numbers in the borough. 

Cllr Ferris added:”Too many houses will just destroy our area, the very nature of where we are. And once we’ve destroyed it, then it’s impossible to return to it.”

Environment

Cllr Ferris said ensuring a flood alleviation scheme is in place for the River Loddon is a priority for the Lib Dem group.

It also wants to focus on improving biodiversity across the borough, and optimise “carbon capture” through planting 300,000 trees and improving hedgerows. 

Cllr Ferris said: “We have gone with a figure of 300,000 trees, which is more than what the Conservatives have gone for, because that will mean that we will meet our DEFRA target for tree cover within the borough.”

He said the group has already got “a lot of support” from the Woodland Trust. 

“We need to do proper action on climate change,” Cllr Ferris said. “Most of the the activities that are currently in the climate change proposals are either not really climate change proposals, and some of them are just being shifted from the environment projects into climate change and calling it climate change.

“If the council gives the impression that we’re doing lots of things for climate change, then the public will think, ‘oh, aren’t we doing well’, and then suddenly find in five to 10 years’ time that we haven’t, and we’ve really got a big problem.

“I think it is better to be open and honest about it and say, we really do need to move these things forward,” Cllr Ferris added. 

Community

The Lib Dem group is proposing to invest £230,000 in the children’s services budget, to improve Children’s & Adolescent Mental Health Service, (CAMHS) assessment waiting times.

Cllr Jones said: “Waiting times have gone up from one year to two. This could be six weeks, if we hired three people to help schools process these assessments in six weeks.”

He added: “It was just absolutely disgraceful that the Conservatives voted against it. And the Labour party, of all parties, abstained because they couldn’t support the Liberal Democrat motion.”

Cllr Jones said the group predicts a “saving down the line” for other services, if it invests in young people’s mental health.  

Cllr Ferris said this is one of the group’s main priorities, following the effect of the pandemic on the mental health of the community. 

The group is also proposing to support the development of community centres as a preventative measure for antisocial behaviour. 

Transparency ethos 

Cllr Ferris said he is worried about the council’s previous level of borrowing, and the transparency around financial sums.

“The figure in the last medium-term financial plan is the borrowing of the council is rising to £750 million for March 2024,” Cllr Ferris said. “You can’t find it in one place, but you have to go through two or three places to get it. And that leads on to another issue we have, which is what I call transparency.”

He is proposing to change the way that council finances are presented, to be “absolutely clear”.

He added: “I have had different figures quoted by the ruling group over the last four months, just shows that there’s a lot of confusion and uncertainty as to the exact borrowing.”

He also believes that “more can be done” when communicating with residents, and said “several things have happened in the recent past where the council has hidden behind legalities”.

“I feel it’s the integrity of the council at stake,” he said. “And that has to change.”

He said the group is creating an implementation plan, that would include the fine details of actions within the first 100 days of a Lib Dem leadership. 

Coalition

Cllr Jones said he doesn’t think there will be a need for a “formal” coalition. 

He said: “If it is no overall control, the Conservatives will present their plans for the coming year. Lindsay will present Liberal Democrat plans for the coming year and it is up to the 54 councillors who are elected to decide then who is running it.”

Over the next few weeks, we will bring you as much information as we can to help you as you decide who to vote for on May 6.