Residents hold public meeting following postponement of Windsor Town Forum

The postponement of the Windsor Town Forum didn’t deter residents as they held their own public meeting to talk about ongoing issues in the town.

The Royal Borough pushed back yesterday’s planned forum at Windsor Guildhall due to concerns that the discussion of agenda items could prejudice the outcome of the upcoming Datchet by-election.

Residents instead gathered next door at The Prince Harry pub and discussed topics including the closure of Squires Garden Centre and car parking in Windsor.

Squires is due to shut tomorrow with the land forming part of the HA11 site earmarked for 450 houses under the Borough Local Plan (BLP).

Dedworth’s Wyevale Garden Centre has also been identified as a potential housing site under the BLP.

Concerns were raised at the meeting that the closure of Squires would see the area stripped of a community hub which provides activities for both children and the elderly.

Meeting chairman Richard Endacott, of the West Windsor Residents Association, said: “If the Borough Local Plan is to be rejected, which is a very realistic option, then we’ve lost two community assets in Dedworth for nothing.”

Residents also called for the council to review its parking policy and speed up the repair of faulty parking machines in Windsor during the meeting.

Addressing the postponement of the Windsor Town Forum, a Royal Borough spokeswoman said: “Due to the live pre-election period in place ahead of the Datchet by-election and following the Code of Recommended Practice on Local Government Publicity, it was decided with the chairman of the forum and the Royal Borough monitoring officer to postpone the meeting.

“By postponing the meeting we are ensuring that members can discuss the agenda items in full at a later date without concerns that it could prejudice the outcome of a by-election.”