May 2005

-People of West Berkshire struggle to be heard-

The Tories lined their own pockets with West Berkshire tax payers' money when they awarded themselves £25,000 worth of allowances. This was achieved by them seizing all but one of the Scrutiny chairs, which in turn made it more difficult for the Lib Dems to effectively scrutinise the Council's services and finances.

The people of West Berkshire lost their voice at a key Berkshire committee which advises on where additional housing will be placed and decides on where gravel extraction will take place. The new Conservative administration on West Berkshire Council failed to appoint a West Berkshire representative to the Joint Strategic Planning Committee of the six Berkshire Unitary Authorities where these decisions are made.

The Conservatives in control showed their true colours by proposing to shelve a Lib Dem investment earmarked to improve services in Thatcham. The Lib Dem administration had earmarked £45,000 for a major facelift of Thatcham library after winning compensation for construction problems of the Newbury library roof.

June 2005

-Projects delayed-

A mounting bill costing thousands of pounds threatened to hit local taxpayers after the Conservatives failed to listen to warnings from the Lib Dems. The Lib Dems pressured the Conservatives to reverse their decision to delay the Thatcham station environmental improvement at the June Executive meeting. The improvements planned for Thatcham station included a taxi rank, parking for disabled people, improved lighting and footpaths and are significant improvements to public safety and would go some way towards minimising congestion at Thatcham Station.

The delays meant increased costs. The Lib Dem administration had ensured this project was fully funded by Section 106 developer contributions instead of the taxpayer. This delay meant either some other schemes must be cut, or the taxpayer would have had to stump up the difference.

July 2005

-Race outrage-

Conservative Councillor Tim Metcalfe made racially prejudiced comments at WBC's Eastern Area Forum, blaming crime in Purley on ethnic minorities. Outraged, Lib Dem Leader Jeff Brooks decided to report him to the Standards Board for England.

August 2005

-Council officials quit amidst plummeting ratings-

Two of West Berkshire Council's top officers quit council employment hot on the heels of departing Chief Executive Jim Graham.

The Corporate Director for Children and Young People and the Transport and Policy Manager both tendered their resignations in August, along with two planning officers. Jeff Brooks pointed out that losing two out of the top five `looks like carelessness'. The new Tory administration's popularity with council staff was called into question.

To further compound misery over the summer of 2005, Tories were forced to admit the independent rating of the Council was likely to fall to `weak' from the `good' rating gained under the Lib Dems in power.

September 2005

-Division and an end to school transport assistance-

Newburians overwhelmingly back the Market Place development (76% in favour) in a costly consultation exercise forced upon locals by the West Berks Tories despite the Lib Dems having consulted and realised that the scheme would be overwhelmingly popular. Council Conservatives appear to be at odds with the Conservative MP who claimed 99% of those he spoke to opposed the improvements, proposed by the Lib Dems as part of the 2025 Vision.

The September meeting of full council saw the Conservative administration do a remarkable turn around over denomination school transport funding. Forced by the Lib Dems to withdraw their plans to remove this funding, the embarrassed Tories beat a hasty retreat amidst cries of angry parents, disappointed they were not consulted over the Tories' proposed cuts.

October 2005

-Cancer unit closure & yet more delay-

October saw the Conservatives voting down a Lib Dem motion to save the Charles Clore Macmillan Cancer Unit. Even after Lib Dem Councillors uncovered a little-known power which would enable the issue to be referred to the Secretary of State, Conservative Members persisted in condemning this valuable local facility.

Protesting parents took to the streets of Mortimer after Conservatives delayed the finishing of a joined up pathway to school. Mortimer Lib Dem Councillors joined them on their protest march against yet another delay.

November 2005

-Green composting ended without consultation-

West Berks Lib Dems accidentally discovered that the "virtuous" green composting trial at Sheepdrove Farm and Pinchington Lane they introduced when in power had been ended by the Conservatives without informing local people.

December 2005

-Democratic accountability takes a nose dive & CPA score slashed-

Executive meetings were slashed by a quarter at the end of 2005. Public accountability has been severely damaged by the Tories' move as the Executive now meets only once every six weeks with interminably long agendas and rarely enough time to answer the questions put to it. Lib Dems proposed an extra full Council meeting in an attempt to soften the blow dealt to the democratic process - but this, too, was shot down by the Tories at the vote.

December also saw the Audit Commission rating “good” (4/4) fall to just 2/4 stars for West Berkshire Council - only two other South East councils were rated so low. Lib Dems expressed concern that the quality of services provided under the Conservatives had slipped so fast.

A Conservative Councillor set a dangerous precedent by discussing and speculating to the press confidential details of a relationship between the Council as a landlord and its tenants. Lib Dems outlined their concern that such a lack of tact could upset local business arrangements.

January 2006

`Delay, delay, delay…'

The Conservatives stalled over plans to ease traffic at the Kintbury crossroads. The dangerous site, which has seen over 30 accidents in seven years, has been repeatedly brought to the Council's attention as a `danger hotspot'.

The public and Lib Dem councillors alike demanded more significant action than the markings and signs the Tory council proposed, calling for a mini-roundabout to be included in the scheme. The council ruled out this suggestion as too expensive.

Lib Dem Councillor Sue Farrant hit the nail on the head when she decried the Tories' penny pinching, saying that a price could not be put on saving lives or preventing serious injuries.

February 2006

-Subways flood while elderly care `not up to standard'-

Lib Dem Roger Hunneman took it upon himself to press for action from the Conservatives to put an end to the soggy situation facing pedestrians using the frequently flooded Robin Hood subway for once and for all. Raising the matter at February's Executive meeting, Councillor Hunneman emphasised that there was no alternative way to safely cross the roads.

However, freak storms in July 2006 showed that once again, nothing had been done by the `Manana' Conservatives to tackle the problem. It looks like Newburians will be wading to work once again this winter…

Meanwhile, an inspection carried out by the Commission for Social Care found 69% of elderly care homes in West Berkshire were NOT meeting the required standards.

March 2006

-Council Tax on the rise-

Conservative Councillors vote down a proposed Lib Dem cut in the tax rise from 2.9% to 2.45%. The Lib Dem proposals would have also reversed many of the “mean” cuts proposed in the Conservatives budget for West Berkshire Council, including a £9k cut in arts funding, £40k cut to respite care, and a £8k cut to the contribution to South East Berkshire Emergency Volunteers who gave considerable support to West Berkshire during the Purley floods.

April 2006

-Financial efficiency scores plummet-

Tory `racism row' councillor Tim Metcalfe struck again, making inappropriate comments at a planning meeting. Tory Leader Graham Jones defended his shamed colleague, who last year made racist comments blaming crime in Purley on ethnic minorities. The Lib Dems at WBC were outraged at Councillor Metcalfe's remarks, particularly as they came after he had been sent on an equality awareness course in November.

Perhaps even more worryingly than the WBC official rating dropping from the `good' status achieved under the Lib Dems to only a grade 3 out of the five grades achievable, the Council's score for managing your money efficiently plummeted from a maximum 4/4 under the Lib Dems to only 2/4 after the first year of Tory mismanagement.

Tories raised parking rates by 10p an hour in Newbury Town Centre, stretching the purses of the taxpayer that little bit further.

May 2006

-Exam pupils moved to unfinished building & crime rates soar-

Lib Dem Councillor for Thatcham North, Mollie Lock, spoke up for the vulnerable pupils sitting their exams at a pupil referral unit. The Conservatives' decision to knock down Bridgeway House and uproot the pupils to the unfinished York House just days before they sat their GCSEs was greeted with alarm by Mollie, who was particularly concerned that the wiring was not completed and toilets unfinished.

Crime levels rose significantly in the first year the Conservatives were in power, with an increase of 935 extra crimes recorded taking the yearly crime count to 6,310. Wounding offences rose by 32%, while domestic violence was on the up by 41%.

Residents in Peasmore slammed West Berkshire Council for failing them in their kerbside collections. Having not had their recycling collected for six weeks due to the day on which their scheduled collection fell, when normal collections were due to resume, no recycling was picked up for a seventh consecutive week.

Having evicted AFC Newbury from the Faraday Road ground, the Tories began considering plans to turn the ground into a 300-space car park for Council employees.

June 2006

-Special needs unit closes & Thatcham wardens delayed-

June saw Lambourn lose its special needs unit as the Tories removed its funding.

Lib Dem Councillors were getting increasingly worried by June that there was no sign of the promised wardens for Thatcham. Taking into account time needed for advertising, recruiting and training the wardens Lib Dem Councillor Terry Port was predicting it would be the autumn at least before wardens hit the streets. This left Thatcham children at their most vulnerable throughout the summer holidays.

July 2006

-Waste overload & rising leisure charges?-

The heat wave rolled on while the waste began to accumulate at the Pinchington Lane site. The heat caused the piles of rubbish to begin to smell, and swarms of flies gathered. Newburians as well as residents from across West Berkshire wrote into the Newbury Weekly News complaining about the situation. Unfavourable comparisons were drawn between WBC's recycling service and performance levels and those of other local authorities.

Questions were raised about whether the Tories intended to raise leisure centre charges in West Berks. The Tories are considering targeted subsidies at the Council-run centres in the district. Although this would mean the elderly and children would benefit from reduced rates, other users would bear the cost of this. Lib Dem Councillor Royce Longton raised his concerns that this would put financial pressures on families with growing children and increasingly hefty mortgages.

Lib Dems in West Berks were victorious in their campaign to not allow buses back through Northbrook Street. The Tory turnaround at the end of July was hailed as a Lib Dem success for Roger Hunneman and Keith Woodhams, who had long pressed to keep buses away from pedestrians and market stalls.

August 2006

-Tories improve their own footways & delay continues in town centre-

West Berkshire Council published a list of footway improvements to be carried out over the coming months which read like the Conservative ward list - 23 out of the 33 footways recommended for improvement are in rural Conservative wards. It seemed to West Berks Lib Dems that although the Conservative Council was spending money taxed from West Berkshire residents as a whole they were only prepared to put their hands in their pockets for certain areas. Keith Woodhams was quick to point out that most footways are located in Newbury and Thatcham, both of which are very much under-represented in the plan.

The dreary saga of the Conservatives' poor implementation of the Newbury town centre works continued - complaints flooded in after sticky black tarmac is laid outside shop doors before opening. Shop owners and shoppers alike were understandably irate. A passer by tripped over debris at the Market Place construction site and was treated in hospital for cuts and bruises.

A poll conducted by newburytoday.co.uk revealed 84% of respondents didn't think West Berkshire's leisure centres were up to scratch.

Plans put forward to build 13 flats on the Peake House Register Office site were withdrawn after accusations were levelled at the Conservatives of wasting tax payer money. Lib Dem Councillor Sally Hannon kept a close eye on the application and was critical of funding such an obviously controversial idea with taxpayers' money.

And finally... the Tories by their own admission found themselves unable to cope with West Berkshire's growing waste mountains. The Tory waste spokesperson himself admitted that Pinchington Lane was `in an awful state', adding that there is `more and more waste to be recycled but we cannot get rid of what we already have'.