Video via WokinghamBC YouTube

Wokingham Borough Council has changed the way its petition debates are held after controversial choices by the Mayor led to councillors and audience members walking out in fury at a council meeting in January.

One audience member yelled “screw you a*******s” at councillors after Independent councillor Gary Cowan was denied putting forward a motion to the council, despite being the member who brought the petition to debate on behalf of more than 1,600 Shinfield residents.

The walkout occurred after Mayor John Kaiser instead chose to hear Cllr Stuart Munro’s motion because the Mayor saw him indicate before Cllr Cowan.

Since then work has gone on behind the scenes to change the way motions are heard at the council.

Alterations to the council’s rules mean the petitioner’s motion will now be heard straight after the debate, assuming it is seconded by another councillor.

However, if an amendment is put forward by another councillor and seconded, a vote will then be taken on the amended motion, rather than the original motion.

If agreed, it will become the council’s response to the petition.

Speaking at a meeting of the council, Cllr Cowan said: “I welcome the intent of this. The point on allowing the petitioner to present the motion is very welcome.”

Another change to the motion means the councillor presenting the petition may submit their motion ten days before the date takes place.

Cllr Cowan expressed his concerns over this element of the changes, saying: “In my opinion, this makes it impossible for the petitioner to listen to the debate and then form a motion based on the outcome of that debate.

“Having made this change they can now amend the motion instantly. What’s very sad about this is the intention of it was good but what it’s done has put a greater constraint on the petitioner and the residents, who are not savvy people with the constitution, they are people who come to this council with concerns.”

But councillor Keith Baker hit back, claiming the changes were “increasing transparency and openness, which I think residents will welcome.”

He added: “I support this change – I believe it increases transparency significantly. The petitioner is in charge of the motion. It allows the petitioner to listen to the debate and propose an amendment.”

Leader of the opposition, Liberal Democrats councillor Lindsay Ferris, said: “It is an improvement on what we currently have, but we need to understand how things work before we can change.

“I do have concerns about the possibility of being hijacked with an amendment when the motion is given such a long time and the amendment comes in on the evening.”

Labour councillor Andy Croy echoed these concerns, saying: “We have to look at the history of this. The problem we’ve got is that residents come along to council and they feel they’re being done over by us.

“Things happen and they don’t understand it, so we need to make sure whatever process we put in place is really easy to understand.

“One thing residents will not understand is when they put a motion in and read it with their councillor and suddenly it’s changed. We’ve seen this time and time again.

“We need to give the petitioner control over which motion goes in front of the council – the petitioner should decide which one they want voted on first. It’s much more democratic and keeps the control with the petitioner.”

Conservative councillor Chris Bowring, who seconded the changes, concluded: “The constitution is constantly evolving here and the changes that have been made are not necessarily perfect at each step. Nothing is really set in concrete.

“The main changes do give the petitioner more control over what happens. It’s clearly a step in the right direction – it may not be perfect, it may not work out as perhaps we intend it, but I think we have to move forwards, see how it works and come back with any suggestions.”

Councillors discussed the changes at a meeting of the council on Thursday, February 22.