First thoughts of the new Conservative Leader - Cllr Pauline Jorgensen
It’s been an interesting time as Leader of the Conservative group since the Lib/Lab coalition took over the council in May. The role of the opposition has three parts to it, holding the ruling group to account and ensuring they continue our record of delivering good services for the borough’s residents; developing and communicating distinctive Conservative policies for the future; helping residents across the borough who increasingly turn to their local Conservative councillors for help.
The first area of policy development we completed was the waste service, where we set out a pledge to continue weekly waste collection and reduce blue bag waste by increasing recycling choice and take up. For that reason we called in the recent decision of the Lib/Lab group to stop the provision of food caddy liners. The council under the Conservatives set out ambitious targets for food recycling and we are very concerned that removing caddy liners will discourage people.
As a Conservative team we have also been very busy feeding back on the Lib/Lab Coalition Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure plan (LCWIP) which is out for consultation. As the previous Executive member responsible for Highways and Transport, and a leisure cyclist, I was very disappointed to see a large number of what can only be described as anti-car measures in the consultation. There are also some positive suggestions remaining however, such as improvements to the Pond Head Lane underpass between Woodley and Earley and the provision of a cycleway between Shinfield and Observer Way, both of which I lobbied for myself.
The proposed road closures would simply increase congestion on the remaining routes resulting in misery for those residents who live nearby. The proposed new traffic lights, replacing the roundabouts at Woosehill and on Beeston Way, and 20mph speed limits in Shinfield Road, would cause unnecessary queues - increasing pollution and delaying everyone who uses their cars to get to work, take the kids to school or go about their normal lives.
The Consultation is a huge missed opportunity. I was hoping to provide even better cycling links and to fill gaps in the network, linking up the new cycleways we had already provided, such as those on Observer Way and the North and South Wokingham Distributor Roads. It was the opportunity to replace steps with ramps as we did on the Wokingham Road in Earley beside the Harley Davidson garage. Instead, we see a plan dominated by an expensive set of anti-car measures which will not expand choice but instead make residents travel more difficult. All is not lost however, there are some good ideas in amongst it and I would urge everyone to get their feedback in.
Finally I have been busy lobbying local MPs on the need to reduce housing numbers further and the financial risks of the draft Adult Social Care proposals. I met Theresa May MP shortly after taking on the role and have since met James Sunderland MP for Bracknell. I also meet the Wokingham MP John Redwood very frequently and am pleased to see he has been campaigning actively on resident’s behalf to increase the consultation time on the LCWIP to ensure we all get a say.
To contact Pauline - please email [email protected]
