THE ruling Conservatives at Wokingham Borough Council have been accused of engaging in a meaningless PR campaign over its triggering of a climate change deliberation process.
The council’s executive committee, which is made up entirely of Conservatives, approved the beginning of a community deliberation process on what can be done in the borough to effectively tackle climate change.
The council administration has argued the deliberation process is needed to find out what residents are concerned about and help it fine tune its ‘comprehensive’ Climate Emergency Action Plan.
Policies in the action plan include encouraging mass and active travel measures such buses, cycling and walking, and a shift to green energy production, reflected in the council’s solar farm projects.
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But councillor Rachel Burgess, the Labour representative for Norreys ward, has accused the Conservatives of engaging in a meaningless PR exercise.
The process involves forming deliberative peer groups to unite people from different sectors and backgrounds – such as businesses and the voluntary sector – to voice their experiences, challenges, and motivations for tackling climate change.
Then, there will be an online discussion to consider recommendations made by the peer groups.
These discussions will open the conversation to a wider audience, allowing residents to comment on the recommendations and grade them based on how effective they believe they will be in meeting the borough’s carbon and climate goals.
The deliberation process, which will cost the council £46,000, was approved at its executive committee meeting on October 28.
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Cllr Laura Blumenthal, deputy executive member for the climate emergency (Conservative, South Lake), said: “I’m delighted that our plans for a community deliberative process have been approved, to increase community involvement in how we tackle climate change.
“This will enable us to forge ahead with this phase of the Climate Emergency Action Plan.
“We’re doing all we can as a council to reduce carbon emissions, but we aren’t able to do this by ourselves.
“Getting views and ideas from across the borough is a key step in ensuring we understand what matters to the wider community and how we can support businesses, groups and individuals in their own journeys towards lowering carbon emissions.”
But Cllr Burgess accused the Conservatives of hogging control over the borough’s climate change response, and argued Labour’s proposed strategy of a Citizen’s Assembly would put the power in the hands of residents instead.
She said: “The Conservatives have revealed their real intention behind these plans.
“They stated that one of the key drivers of the engagement is to make sure residents know that Wokingham Borough Council are going “in the right direction”. In other words to create positive publicity for the Conservatives.
“They have kept themselves in control of the process and they are not allowing the participants to develop any meaningful expertise.
“The selection of focus groups will make meaningful engagement impossible, as the experts will not be able to engage with each group fully. This is a pretence at engagement.
“Once the final considerations go to a Council vote, the Conservatives will have a veto on anything that challenges their current plan.
“This has already been done as part of a ‘consultation’, which in reality was just a Facebook group.”
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Cllr Burgess referred to the Wokingham Borough Environmental Ideas public group, which has 627 members and can be joined here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/644086849443503
She continued: “This group has run over the past two years and there are no new ideas in the Plan that have come solely from this group, no magic ideas that the global net-zero community has not already considered.
Residents need meaningful engagement with subject experts, to be presented with options by those experts and to decide which options are feasible and palatable.
“Last year, the Liberal Democrats supported Labour’s motion to have a Citizens’ Assembly. The Conservatives rejected it out of hand. If the Council had adopted Labour’s suggestion we could now be acting on a credible new plan, instead of just going through the motions.”
The Local Democracy Reporting Service has asked the council for further comment.
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