Furious councillors walk out in protest at West Berkshire Council budget meeting
Opposition leader Lee Dillon accused Conservatives of trying to silence them
Jonathan Ashby
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A WEST Berkshire Council meeting descended into chaos last night after the opposition Liberal Democrat and Green councillors virtually stormed out in protest at debating time being cut short.
Leader of the opposition Lee Dillon (Lib Dem, Thatcham North East) called on his councillors to leave the meeting after he and others were blocked from speaking on amendments to the Conservative-led council’s revenue budget.
The three Green councillors then followed suit, meaning neither opposition party voted on the final revenue budget, which saw council tax rise by 1.99 per cent.
Bid to pause London Road Industrial Estate project in Newbury is rejected
Phased approach to redevelopment will go ahead as planned
John Herring
CALLS to pause the regeneration of the London Road Industrial Estate (LRIE) have been defeated.
Planning consultant Avison Young says up to 280 homes, 3,473 sq m of office space and 5,400 sq m of space for other businesses could be built there.
The Liberal Democrats called in the Conservative-run council’s decision, raising concerns about its ability to manage the project, its conflict of interests and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the local economy.
They called for the project to be paused until an environmental assessment of the entire site had been carried out, the fall-out of the pandemic was more fully understood and the appropriate project management structure and expertise were in place.