Labour councillors Andy Croy, Rachel Burgess, and Carl Doran. All three sit on Wokingham Borough Council. Labour accept they won’t be running Wokingham Borough Council anytime soon but say the ruling Tories “have got a fight on their hands”. While Labour have just four seats on the 54-seat council, there are 18 up for grabs at the election on May 6 and they are competing for all of them. Cllr Andy Croy, leader of the Labour group of councillors on Wokingham Borough Council, said: “People should vote Labour in May because they know their councillor will be exceptionally hard working. “If you elect a Labour councillor, you will get a councillor for the next four years, not just for election day.
Reading Council/Wokingham council Labour clash The council has clarified it will not fire and rehire any staff, after concern was raised by a Labour councillor at a budget meeting. Reading Borough Council (RBC) last week denied claims it will ‘fire and rehire’ staff as part of plans to save millions of pounds this year. Green councillor Rob White raised concerns at a meeting that the Labour-run council is planning to reduce its staff’s pay and conditions such as overtime and pay protection. RBC leader councillor Jason Brock responded: “No-one is going to be sacked over terms and conditions.”
“We continue to support a sustainable settlement at Grazeley.” RBC hopes the plans will help it to meet its housing needs. But the development proposals recently suffered a major blow after developers’ legal challenge against West Berkshire Council’s decision to extend an emergency planning zone failed. The site in Grazeley, which is around one mile from Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) Burghfield, had been earmarked for a huge ‘garden town’ but the project has been thrown into doubt. That’s because in March 2020, West Berkshire Council extended the Detailed Emergency Planning Zone (DEPZ) around the factory, meaning it now covers the site where Grazeley was planned.
The plan had been objected to by Wokingham Town Council. Town councillor Abby Tebborth raised concerns at the meeting about odour from the sewage works, flood risk, the impact on local infrastructure such as GPS and the loss of open space. Jessica Sparkes, representing David Wilson Homes, said it would not be in their interest to progress on a site if there were issues with odour, denying it would be an issue, and said a large amount of open space would be retained. Council officers suggested smells would be an issue in just a small area for just a few days a year and said: “There is not much you can do about that”.