Royal Borough elections: Borough 'sold out to developers', say Lib Dems

With the local elections now just two weeks away, we are featuring the main pledges by the Royal Borough parties as they compete for your vote at the ballot box. This week, we will be focusing on the Conservatives, Labour, the Liberal Democrats, The Borough First Independents and the Green Party. We are also aiming to focus on residents’ associations, independent candidates and smaller parties within the next week to give everyone a chance to make their case.

The Liberal Democrats say the borough has been ‘sold out to developers’ by the ruling Conservatives and are calling for a change of approach to how the council is run.

The opposition group want to see the council tap into the knowledge that residents have on a range of issues including climate change, engineering and leisure.

The political party’s manifesto criticised the Tory vision for the town centre which has led to the construction of the towering Landing project which rises more than 20 storeys.

This approach to housing has benefited developers rather than residents, the party said.

It is calling for developers in the town centre to be taxed via a Community Infrastructure Levy.

Councillor Simon Werner, leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: “Residents are telling us they want to see a change of
approach – residents put first rather than the Borough being sold out to developers and an end to the mistakes that lead to land being sold to developers cheap, and car parks being built in the wrong place and being left empty.”

If the planned development of Maidenhead Golf Course cannot be legally stopped, the party said it wants to limit construction on the sprawling green space as much as possible.

It has made championing sustainability a key election pledge and has urged developers to prioritise the climate and ecological emergency.

Cleaning up neighbourhoods across the borough has also been identified as a key priority by the Liberal Democrats.

The party said it wants to bring back a rapid response team to
remove graffiti, fill potholes, deal with broken street lights and tackle fly-tipping.

It is also calling for a ‘fit-for-purpose’ street cleaning programme to clear leaves and drains.

The Liberal Democrats are calling for some council services to be brought back in-house, rather than being outsourced to private companies.

It has called for more effective use of council assets and criticised the ruling Conservatives for selling assets off cheaply to
developers.

Councillor Werner added: “The local Lib Dems are committed to real change in the Borough.

“I want to see all councillors of whatever party being involved in the running of the Borough. And we would go further, I want to see all the community getting involved – not with fake consultations – but with real dialogue.

“We want to see the Borough back in the heart of the community, with our neighbourhoods cleaned up, sustainability a central focus, and the Borough’s finances restored.”