At the full Sandhurst Town Council meeting on June 25^th of 16 councillors in attendance, the vast majority (11) voted not to discuss the Reform motion regarding: ‘The continued uncertainty surrounding BFC plans to work towards becoming a Council of Sanctuary, Sandhurst Town Council states its opposition to the proposal.’ 

11 democratically elected Councillors from all three parties voted that this motion was out of scope under the operating rules that Sandhurst Town Council follows and not to debate it.

Despite this democratic decision, on July 2nd all Councillors received notification from the Mayor of an extraordinary meeting, for 7^th July. This was after pressure from the original requestor, unhappy that the motion had been denied.  11 cross party councillors saw no valid reason to give it a platform and debate an issue that STC has no control over.  

The Liberal Democrats wrote to the Conservative Mayor (who voted in support of debating the motion on the night), asking what legal basis he had to ignore a decision voted on by 11 councillors. To date no reply has been received.

A vote has already been held at Sandhurst. Bracknell Forest Council has also stated that no work is continuing towards obtaining the status. 

There is no uncertainty. 

There is no reason for a debate. 

There is no valid reason for an Extraordinary Council Meeting that would only enable a Reform representative to air their divisive views. None of our Councillors, who give their time freely to serve the community, have any wish to waste their time on a dead issue. As a result, no LibDem Councillors will attend the meeting.

Personal Statement from Councillor Chris Ives:

I am one of the Lib Dem councillors who did not attend the extraordinary council meeting on Tuesday. My understanding is that the matter to be discussed was not part of the role of the town council. The standing orders make it clear that unless it is a statutory duty, only matters that ‘specifically’ affect Sandhurst Residents are part of that role. If there had been proposals for asylum seeker accommodation in Sandhurst, clearly that would have been a proper thing to discuss. However, there is no evidence of any such proposal. The matter that was discussed was not even taken forward by the Borough Council. It was a non-issue. 

Personally, I have views on the Borough of Sanctuary scheme which I heard had been explored by some Borough councillors. On hearing about this interest in the scheme at Borough, I did what any Sandhurst resident could have done and made my views known to Borough councillors. Whether that had any effect on BFC thinking, I do not know. However, as far as I am aware, the scheme was never formally proposed as council business. Those present at the STC extraordinary meeting, amended the motion, and the Mayor, to his credit, spoke of the inclusiveness of Sandhurst and its diversity, and welcomed more recently arrived residents. However, that does not seem to have had much effect on some commentators here, whose insulting comments make it clear that the motion has had its intended effect, in inciting unwarranted anger about a non-event to further the proposer’s political aims.

In a recent post, Bracknell Liberal Democrats shared that ‘all councillors should strive to reject the division, hatred and scare mongering that they (Reform) offer.’ 

 

Last week, the Bracknell Reform Campaign Manager has posted many comments, in many different social media forums in relation to the now abandoned potential, of Bracknell becoming a Council of Sanctuary. Many false statements were made by the audience, about the potential use of the Premier Inn, at Rackstraws in Sandhurst, being used as a potential hotel for migrants.

 

Local Liberal Democrat councillor, Leigh Quigg, has been in contact directly with leadership at Whitbread, owners of the Premier Inn chain. They have stated many times publicly that they do not participate in the central government lead re-housing scheme, and that their properties are not let out for this purpose. Aware that scare mongering and misrepresentation is rife, Councillor Quigg received confirmation on June 29th that their position remains unchanged. Sandhurst Premier Inn is not, and will not become, part of the central government scheme.

Statement from Simon Evans, Managing Director, UK&I Hotels and Restaurants, Whitebread Plc

Mrs Quigg, 

Thank you for your email.  I sympathise with the need for you to contact me as I see increasing amounts of misinformation circling too.

I can unequivocally confirm that Premier Inn does not, nationally, regionally or locally engage with central government or local authorities on migrant programmes, nor do we intend to do so.  Our hotels are designed and operated for leisure and business guests only.

I hope this clarifies.  I have also copied in Roz, who can provide you with any formal press statements we have made to this effect.

Thank you again for taking the time to contact me and seeking the clarity you need.

Regards

Simon Evans

Lib Dems Continue to Grow Strong Presence across Bracknell Forest 

 

Over the last 3 years, Bracknell Forest Liberal Democrats have been building a stronger local team, with more councillors representing communities across our borough. We have continued to building on our success at the last main local council elections, where we increased our representation to 7 borough and 7 town/parish councillors. Since then, our councillor team on Sandhurst Town Council has grown to 8 councillors, local Lib Dem Simon Banks won a by-election in Winkfield and in the last month, our local Membership Secretary Jo Hawley was co-opted onto Warfield Parish Council. 

 

Throughout the borough residents are recognising the work, support and value our councillors deliver, locally. Whilst we have to recognise the increasing volume of the Reform right-wing rhetoric, all of our councillors strive to reject the division, hatred and scare mongering that they offer. In a region where 22% of our residents identify with ethnic minority groups, Bracknell Forest Liberal Democrats will always oppose the language and actions that seek to divide the community and instil fear of outsiders. We represent equally, every single member of our Borough in our council roles. We will listen to opposing views but also challenge them where we believe they are wrong and inappropriate.

  

We are less than 12 months out from the ‘27 local elections. If you’d like to help keep Bracknell the strong, welcoming, diverse and collaborative community it is, we appreciate support in any of the following ways:

- Joining one of our volunteer teams (e.g. canvassing and leaflet delivery, tech support, comms, policy development)

- Sponsoring our activity and events

- Standing as a local councillor

 

If you’d like to find out more then drop us a line at: jo.hawley@bracknelllibdems.co.uk

The path leading up to the Library from the Broadway was badly damaged from the tree roots adjacent to the path. Your Liberal Democrat Councillors spoke to Abri, who own the path, and made the case that local residents had found the uneven nature of the path dangerous.  The slabs were lifted and carefully re-laid to ensure a smooth service. 
Let us know if there are other local amenities which need repair and we shall press the Council or the owner to get a repair. 
We report all the potholes we come across; Bracknell Forest Council runs a reporting service at: https://selfservice.mybfc.bracknell-forest.gov.uk/w/webpage/auth-service?service=road_repairs_and_issues

Due to council budget pressures, the Borough's libraries were vulnerable to cuts in the last Bracknell Forest Council budget. Sandhurst Liberal Democrats campaigned to keep the Sandhurst Town Library open.  Whilst some other parts of the Borough lost their Borough run library Sandhurst has retained our facility.

In addition, we also managed to secure £30.000 of investment to see the facilities upgraded with a new public toilet being built.  For such an important facility not having a toilet was not acceptable and we are glad that we secured the funding needed for the redevelopment.

Many residents and groups use the Library and we will continue to ensure that our library is protected and we will make the case for further investment.
If you would like to see the Library and their fabulous staff and come and meet your Liberal Democrat Councillors we have a Councillor surgery on the first Saturday of each month from 11 AM to 12 AM.
If you have a specific problem you can email Mike Forster at: mike.forster@bracknell-forest.gov.uk

If you are a resident of Central Sandhurst, Little Sandhurst, Owlsmoor and College Town and you need support from your Town and Borough councillors you can always email them directly or come to the residents surgery at the Sandhurst Library.

We run a monthly surgery from between 1100 -1200 on the first Saturday of every month.