‘Immeasurable objectives’: West Berkshire Council’s draft council strategy criticised
A West Berkshire Council strategy plan for the next four years has been met with criticism.
The lack of clarity within the document which sets out the district council’s improvement plans has been raised.
The WBC draft council strategy went to public consultation on January 13 and is due to close on February 26.
Thatcham Town Council has drafted a response to the consultation in which it says it agrees with WBC’s 44 objectives but seeks more detail.
The letter of response said the objectives were impossible to measure, meaning any scale of improvement can be deemed a success.
It also comments on the lack of intermediate objectives, specifically referencing WBC’s plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030.
The town council said: “This is clearly not measureable within the 2023-2027 timeframe."
In a recent full meeting of Thatcham Town Council, councillor Steve Ardagh-Walter (Con, Thatcham Colthrop & Crookham), also a West Berkshire councillor, said specific details needed to be omitted in order to make the documentation clear.
He told the town council: “To lock in every single detail of the next four years would be unhelpful to all and it would be impractical.
“In time subsidiary strategies will come out which will gradually flesh out parts of this.”
Town council leader – and leader of the opposition at West Berkshire Council – Lee Dillon (Thatcham North East) also said this was the wrong time to conduct a consultation.
He told the chamber: “Regardless of the election results in May I do think this is the wrong time to do the strategy because there could be a change of administration in May and this council will be asked again to come back and comment on a refreshed document.
“West Berkshire Council just need to take it back into their business calendar and make it so that you go out to consult after the election once you know you’ve got a mandate.
“If a Lib Dem administration was bringing a strategy out now I would have exactly the same criticism.”
The consultation, which summarises the 44 points into five categories met with multiple choice questions, can be found on the West Berkshire Council website.
