Cllr Pauline Jorgensen is the Leader of the Conservative Group on Wokingham Borough Council
Voters can forgive mistakes. What is much harder to forgive is saying one thing before an election and doing the opposite afterwards.
Across Wokingham Borough, residents are increasingly frustrated by Liberal Democrat U-turns, broken promises, unpopular schemes and decisions taken despite clear public opposition.
Housing is perhaps the biggest issue.
Wokingham Borough has absorbed enormous levels of development, about 30 per cent more than the assessed housing need, driven by a faster-than-expected build-out rate of existing permissions. Green fields have disappeared, roads have become more congested and infrastructure has struggled to keep pace.
Today’s housing targets are simply too high. Our Borough’s residents should not continually be expected to accommodate development because brownfield land elsewhere is not being used effectively, three-quarters of a million homes stand empty, and London is failing to meet its own housing targets. In 2023/4 London delivered less than 34,000 homes against a target of 52,000.
We continue to argue for housing targets to be allocated more fairly. Growth must be planned, sustainable and supported by the infrastructure needed to make it work. There is also a fundamental question about what land we protect.
Our previous Local Plan sought to protect the best farmland and maintain the separation between settlements. The latest Liberal Democrat plan instead protects employment sites, some of which are under-utilised, while proposing development on green fields. The contradiction is particularly stark given the Liberal Democrats’ record on the Local Plan. In opposition, they — together with their now-MP — opposed development on a major site in open countryside. Once in power, they backed it.
Our position is straightforward: build homes in the right places, protect green fields and Green Belt, and ensure development is genuinely sustainable.
The same problem can be seen in transport policy.
Residents have repeatedly raised concerns about traffic schemes, poorly designed cycleways and the spread of 20mph limits, yet too often those concerns appear to have made little difference. Many will remember the national coverage of the £5.5 million roundabout featuring painted oak leaves. Residents, disabled groups and businesses raised concerns, yet Liberal Democrats defended it as “an innovative solution and something we can be proud of”.
That is difficult to reconcile with repeated claims that there is insufficient money for basic highway improvements. Now Woodley is dealing with yet another set of unconventional road changes. Residents have raised concerns about the cycleway layout, including the difficulties it may create for visually impaired pedestrians. One resident put it well:
“Looking at that picture, I still have no clue if it is an actual road, a raised pavement, or a modern art installation.”
The wider scheme, including 20mph limits, was opposed by 69 per cent of respondents to the consultation.
Yet, beneath the council newsletter slogan “You said it, we did it”, the scheme went ahead anyway.
Meanwhile, basic services have come under pressure.
Grass cutting has been reduced. The council cut the number of litter bins across the borough. Conservatives opposed the move through a petition-backed campaign attracting thousands of signatures. The council subsequently backed down and reinstated the bins, wasting even more money.
It demonstrated something important: councils should listen to the people they serve. This is a message Conservatives should be carrying to residents across the country.
Our approach to local government should be based on three simple tests:
Our electoral challenge for 2027 is also clear. In Wokingham Borough, in more than half of wards contested in 2026, the combined Conservative and Reform vote exceeded the vote received by the successful Liberal Democrat or Labour candidate. Despite the split vote, we remain on 19 councillors; Reform simply prevented us from taking back control of the Council, and where we lost out, the margins were only a fraction of the Reform vote.
Voters wanting a change of direction therefore face an important choice about how best to achieve it.
Our task is to offer a credible alternative: sound finances, reliable services, sensible planning and a council that listens.
So, our message in Wokingham Borough is simple:
If you want council spending focused on services residents actually value; if you want a council that listens before it acts, and stands up for local people; if you want decent services and value for money; and if you want to fight to protect what remains of Wokingham Borough’s green fields; Conservatives — working for you.