THE NEW leader of Wokingham Borough Council says it is a great privilege to take on the role, and he would do his best to justify the support of councillors.
Cllr Stephen Conway was elected to the role at the annual meeting of Wokingham Borough Council, held on Thursday, May 18.
“This year will no doubt be challenging for the council, as was the last. Inflation has not gone away; demand for our services grows, interest rates remain high, and the government has given us totally inadequate core funding,” he said.
“But we have at least three significant advantages to help us rise to the challenges ahead.”
These include external partnerships with community partners.
“This administration will continue to work to nurture and deepen these relationships, in the firm belief that we can achieve more together than we can on our own,” Cllr Conway said.
His second advantage is the council’s officers “who want to make a difference and are committed to the public service. I hope all councillors will appreciate the enormous contribution our officers make – without them, we could do nothing”.
And the experience and talent of the councillors was the third advantage.
“I would like to call on the expertise of all councillors to help us tackle the challenges that lie ahead. I want all councillors to be able to make a meaningful contribution through active participation in council committees or working parties,” he said.
His priorities will be “financial stability; targeting what resources we can at helping those most in need; securing school places for the borough’s young people; providing support for local businesses; and playing our part in addressing the climate emergency.”
He also called on councillors to work together.
“Believe me, constructive opposition can add value to what the council does. Ultimately, it’s more satisfying for opposition members than merely railing from the sidelines,” he said, adding that he had invited the Labour and Conservative groups the opportunity to chair or vice-chair committees.
“I have offered the chairs of the Audit Committee and the Climate Emergency Overview and Scrutiny Committee to the Labour group. I have offered the Conservative group the vice-chairs of the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee, the Licensing and Appeals Committee, and the Standards Committee,” he revealed.
“The leader of the Labour group has agreed – thank you, Rachel. The leader of the Conservative group has accepted the vice-chair of Standards, which is encouraging, but has declined the offer of Conservative vice-chairs for Health Overview and Scrutiny and Licensing Appeals, which strikes me as a missed opportunity. I hope Pauline will reconsider.”
He said councillors were best when they were positive and worked on their shared ground.
“All of us, I hope, want a compassionate and caring Wokingham,” he said. “And all of us, I hope again, want to ensure that everyone in our community is treated with respect and is given the opportunity to live a happy and fulfilled life, whatever their background or characteristics.
“If we do indeed share these objectives, let’s work together to deliver the even better borough that we all want to see.”
