Reading Borough Council has reiterated its case to keep all of Tilehurst in Berkshire as talks continue around local government reorganisation.
Tilehurst is currently split between Reading Borough wards (Tilehurst and Kentwood) and West Berkshire parishes (Tilehurst, Holybrook and Purley).
The split has become central to plans by Liberal Democrat‑controlled West Berkshire to join with South Oxfordshire and the Vale of White Horse to form a new authority called 'Ridgeway Council' — a proposal revealed last March that would include the Tilehurst parishes, Calcot and Theale.
Reading’s Labour leadership wants those Tilehurst parishes absorbed into a Greater Reading and is sticking to that position as the government consultation on Oxfordshire’s Local Government Reorganisation proposals begins. Of the three options for Oxfordshire, two create Ridgeway Council; the third would create a single Oxfordshire unitary council.
The government launched the consultation online today (Friday, February 6). It runs for seven weeks until 26 March.
Reading submitted a formal bid last November to acquire the Tilehurst parishes if Ridgeway is created, but that appears to have been rebuffed. The government, however, still has the power to transfer the parishes to Reading following the consultation.
Liz Terry, leader of Reading Borough Council, has stressed that West Berkshire was never meant to submit a bid to the government for reorganisation, as it is already a unitary authority. Councillor Terry (Labour, Coley) said: “We have now had confirmation of the government’s position; that neither West Berkshire Council or Reading Borough Council were invited to submit bids as part of this phase of Local Government Reorganisation, which is something we have emphasised from the outset.
“At the same time, the Government has confirmed that it retains the option to modify any of the Oxfordshire proposals following this consultation and, as a statutory consultee, Reading Borough Council is encouraged to submit its representation as part of the consultation, which we now intend to do.
“To pretend that these three Tilehurst Wards are anything other than suburbs of Reading flies directly in the face of the government’s prescribed criteria that proposals should be based on ‘sensible economic geography.’
“From speaking to these residents’ face to face, and from our own independent surveys, residents living in these areas see themselves as part of Reading and often rely on services provided by Reading Council.
“It is important to emphasise that West Berkshire would cease to exist if proposals for a new ‘Ridgeway’ council are agreed. Residents of these three wards would find themselves on the outer fringes of a significantly larger and predominantly rural new council where their needs would not necessarily align with those of the rest of their new area.
“Reading’s proposal on the other hand fundamentally strengthens local democracy by aligning where people pay their Council Tax and where decisions are made, with local identity, local services and patterns of daily living. We do not believe clinging to boundary lines which were drawn up over a century ago and are now well out of date is a sensible approach to setting a boundary for a new authority which is likely to exist for decades to come.”
Reading’s survey results show 34–37% of Tilehurst residents use Reading leisure centres. Around 10% of all visits to Reading leisure centres come from West Berkshire residents, rising to 30% for Meadway Sports Centre. Meanwhile, 60% of Tilehurst Birch Copse residents preferred decisions to be made in Reading, rather than Newbury (37%) or Abingdon (3%).
James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporter
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