WDC's "State of the District" Debate was a huge bore say Wokingham Lib Dems (Wokingham Liberal Democrats)

Wokingham Liberal Democrats <info@wokinghamlibdems.org.uk>

WDC's "State of the District" Debate was a huge bore say Wokingham Lib Dems

December 1, 2004 12:00 AM

Councillor Coling Lawley could barely conceal his yawns when describing Wokingham District Council's "State of the District" debate, held at Shute End on Thursday 25th November.

Coling Lawley (Leader of the Wokingham District Liberal Democrat Councillors Group and member for Coronation ward) said, "The first two State of the District debates were excessively dull, but we were promised that this year's offering would be different. The only difference I could spot this year is that the few residents and partner representatives in the Council Chamber got bored sooner."

Following criticisms of last year's State of the District debate, Wokingham District Council set up four meetings across the district before the debate so that stakeholders could have a say about the way Wokingham district is run. This was an attempt to include more people in the discussion. The results of these meetings were reported at the debate.

Coling Lawley said, "The theory is great, but the reality was mind-numbing. We were treated to a recitation of a statistic-laden report that was already printed in the agenda. To crown it all, the "open forum" part of the meeting consisted of the Chairman calling on Executive members to give their reports one after another.

"If this is the Tory-controlled administration's best idea of engagement with the public, I wouldn't be surprised if the public asked for a divorce. The Tories really must explore imaginative ways of reaching out to our residents and partners. At the moment they're being bored into submission."