ELECTION 2021
The biggest election in our are this year will be the Wokingham Borough elections. Credit: Ben Walker/ New Statesman (Ballot: File Photo)
Voters up and down the country are going to the polls for the Local Elections this year. The biggest elections in our area are the Wokingham Borough elections, where voters throughout the borough will be selecting their ward councillors. There is a total of 18 seats up for grabs spread across the town itself, the Reading suburban areas of Earley, Woodley and Shinfield, and Wokingham’s satellite villages such as Twyford, Finchampstead and Hurst. There are a total of 54 seats on the council. The Conservatives are currently in charge with 31 councillors, a majority of 23. The second biggest party is the Liberal Democrats, with 15 candidates. The Labour Party currently has 4 councillors, and there are three independents. Councillors are elected for 4 year terms. Incumbents this year were last elected in 2016. There were meant
How will the election counts be different this year? Counts for the Wokingham Borough elections will take place at the Loddon Valley Leisure Centre in Rushey Way, Earley, starting at 9.30am on Saturday, May 8. The results from each ward will be read out in the main counting hall by Returning Officer Andrew Moulton. Once the wards are declared, candidates and their agents will then leave the hall, with time spaced so that other candidates can enter safely. This process will continue until all 18 results are declared. Election counts are typically held by invite, and there are no changes for that this year.
The committee will also consider 164 objections from nearby residents in opposition to the plans. According to an officer s report, residents said:
The playing field site was inappropriate for such a structure
The apparatus would have a visual impact on the surrounding area
The mast would have an impact on local wildlife
The mast would devalue surrounding properties, and more. Bracknell Town Council recommended the plans be refused, too. In a statement, they said: Whilst Bracknell Town Council understands that the Telecommunications Companies want to improve coverage for all residents, Bracknell Town Councillors feel that the siting of this mast on a recreation area used by many local residents and the adjoining youth clubis not a suitable position.
They also said the buildings would put extra pressure on the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area. Following this, applicants launched an appeal to the Inspectorate in October 2020, with statements given in November. A decision date has not yet been given.
Use of land as residential (APP/R0335/X/20/3257560) In April 2020, plans were submitted by a homeowner on Ranelagh Drive to gain permission for the use of land as residential. The applicant claimed it had been used as private residential curtilage since the property was purchased in 1985, and that “there is no possibility of it having any alternative or separate public amenity use across this time period.”