Newbury Weekly News - May 11th 2017

Thursday, May 11, 2017

Newbury Weekly News

By-election candidates

Death ofRoger Croft leaves vacancy tofillontown anddistrict councils Conservativecandidate – JasonCollis

LibDemcandidate –OwenJeffery

UKIP is looking to break the two-party mould in Thatcham by offering a different voice onWest Berkshire Council. Ian Waters said that his party believed that the by-elec- tion should not have been called, but it would present Thatcham voters with a choice to elect an alternative voice. “I believe the two seats could have stayed open,” he said. “It’s going to be very difficult to fill Roger Croft’s shoes. We didn’t call it and we wouldn’t have called it out of respect. “The main thing is to let people know that UKIP is alive and kicking… and that our membership is still holding strong and we are still here and not going away. “I’m standing for Thatcham South and Crookhammainly to be another voice, a different voice, that can put forward viable alternative solutions and ideas to improve Thatcham.” Mr Waters said that the town needed a different voice from the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives. He said: “There’s never been another voice to put forward different ideas. I think we can put them forward and work together. “To me the idea of a council is to work together and not be rivals all the time.” Mr Waters, a retired construction manager, said that his party had long advo- cated a bridge over the railway to ease congestion and added that road safety on Crookham Hill needed addressing. He said another priority was THE Liberal Democrats are hoping for a fightback in the Thatcham South and Crookham ward. The party has selected polit- ical veteran Owen Jeffery, a former district and town coun- cillor, to stand. Mr Jeffery said that the Conservative-controlled coun- cil had shown a lack of ambi- tion, despite having the power to get things done. “They are sat there with a massive majority; anything that they want to do, anything they think can be done they can do it without having to blink an eyelid and they can’t think of anything other to do than increase members allowances.” He branded Conservative councillors as “an incompe- tent bunch” who had shown “no pre-planning” and were not “not looking up to see if there’s a problem coming down the road”. Mr Jeffery said that child and adolescent mental health services had been neglected under Conservative rule, along with education and recycling targets and promotion. He said that a lack of afford- able housing was the biggest issue facing the town. “I think that should be one of the things at the top of the hit list,” Mr Jeffery said. “What they are doing with the planning department is it’s being run in a way that doesn’t

van Crookham Common had been left isolated. “We need joined-up thinking in terms of public transport and infrastructure that serves the community,” he said. “I think Thatcham is very often seen as the poor relation to Newbury in planning and providing the infrastructure. “It needs to have a voice that’s not just going to be the Conservative Party line. park at “Roger is a huge loss and very much missed by us all. “I’m determined to fight this election as he would want and to continue on with his fantas- tic work, ensuring the best deal possible for the people of Thatcham.” He said that a Conservative win would allow Thatcham’s voice to be heard at district level as him “working with the Conservative group at West Berkshire Council would achieve more than having someone from another party battling all the time”. Mr Collis said that his prior- ity was how future develop- ment of the town would unfold. He said: “A lot of our prob- lems with parking on streets is how the estates have been designed and the way we have let developers build these estates. “With all the planning appli- cations around the town it affects all of Thatcham because it affects infrastructure and traffic levels. “We need to change the way we deal with it.” Mr Collis said that the ulti- mate end game would be the creation of a town plan, if there was a need for one. However, he said it would be an “incredibly involved process”, but “we need to ask these sort of questions because they impact on us for so long”.

Roger Croft

THATCHAM South and Crookham residents will have three votes to cast on June 8. A by-election has been called to fill Conservative councillor Roger Croft’s seats on West Berkshire Council and Thatcham Town Council. Mr Croft died from injuries sustained in a car crash in France in February. His wife Zelda was also killed. Mr Croft was elected to the town and district councils in 2011 and became the leader of West Berkshire Council in 2015. The by-election will be held on the same day as the General Election on Thursday, June 8. The Conservatives controlled 48 of the 52 seats on West Berkshire Council until Mr Croft’s death, with the remaining four held by the Liberal Democrats. Thatcham Town Council is also run by the Conservatives, who held 15 of the 18 seats, with the Lib Dems holding the remaining seats. This week the NWN spoke with candidates standing for election to West Berkshire Council. Profiles of candidates standing for election to Thatcham Town Council will appear in next week’s Newbury Weekly News .

THE West Berkshire Green Party candidate wants to let Thatcham’s voice be heard, while tackling congestion at the level crossing. The local party’s chairman and former serviceman Steve Masters will be contesting the Thatcham South and Crookham seat. He said: “I don’t think the residents are getting their voices heard. “I want to be the voice of the ordinary everyday people, for those who don’t really get a voice. “A vote for a Green Party candidate would allow that voice to be heard and give an alternative perspective for the people of Thatcham South and Crookham.” Mr Masters said that West Berkshire Council had a Newbury-centric view, with most infrastructure projects focused on the town. He said that Thatcham resi- dents’ calls for a bridge over the railway had been discarded, leading to higher air pollution levels around the station and roads affected by the queues. Mr Masters said: “That’s got real-world implications. “Air pollution from vehicles and poor air quality leads to deaths and cars sat with their engines running at the crossing and around Thatcham adds to that pollution. “Now is the time to look at the options and maybe do a feasibil- ity study to see how we can improve air quality.” Mr Masters added that he had been “fighting the severity of the cuts” that the Conservative- controlled council had imple- mented in recent years. He said that rural bus services needed to be reinstated as some residents at the cara- “I go to the Baptist church in the ward and have done for 19 years now and just want to honour Roger’s legacy in terms of the work he has done with the district and continue to represent Thatcham at a district level. THE Conservatives are look- ing to honour Roger Croft’s legacy by having town coun- cil leader Jason Collis elected to his seat on West Berkshire Council. Mr Collis was elected to the town council in 2015 and was appointed leader in 2016. He sits on all town council committees and is a member of community planning group Thatcham Vision. When asked why he was standing for the district coun- cil, Mr Collis said: “I just want to represent the people of Thatcham.

education and that the town needed another secondary school. “I’ve had quite a few people say that, with the growing size of Thatcham, we need a new secondary school,” he said. “Newbury has three and the population difference isn’t that great. He hoped that Thatcham South and Crookham would emulate the Richmond effect, when the Conservatives lost the seat to the Lib Dems in December last year, and show the local Conservatives that people would no longer be taken for granted. seem to be giving us great value for money because we haven’t put any strategic plans to bed properly.” He added that the six-year wait for replacing Taceham House in the Haywoods repre- sented “the paradigm of afford- able housing in this area”. Mr Jeffery said that, while the result would not see a shift in power at the district coun- cil, he wanted to be “the fifth Lib Dem poking them in the eye saying wake up and run the council properly. What you are doing is not adequate for the people.”

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“The Tory candidate is bound by the party whip at district level and not actually going to have a totally indepen- dent voice. “We need someone who will stand up and address the issues.” A former corporal in the Royal Air Force, Mr Masters now works in mental health care, an area he said had felt the brunt of Conservative cuts. He said one area was retiring servicemen who needed support in the community. He said: “I was homeless for 10 months in 2009. “I’m very grateful to the people who did support me and help me get back on to a level playing field. “These things are real issues to people.”

“We need to look at another secondary school and see if some solution can come.” He added that Grundon’s intention to quarry at Kennetholme Farm should not be fought. “Instead of demonising, I believe we should work closer with Grundon and landown- ers. “If we put our minds to it, part of it could be for recre- ational purposes. “It’s going to take 10 years before it’s all finished, we could have something equivalent to the Nature Discovery Centre there.”

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NB: At the time of going to press, the Labour Party had not announced its candidate