A memorial bench in Acorn Drive, Wokingham, for Leading Weapons Engineer Lee 'Billy' Bunker is under threat after landlord Home Group moved against items in communal areas. His parents, Lorna, 78, and Michael, 82, say it could be removed.
Lee died aged 23 in a diving accident. Born in 1973, he was fascinated by the Royal Navy-he wrote to Margaret Thatcher at nine, was invited to Portsmouth Naval Base for his tenth birthday, became a sea cadet, joined the Navy at 16 and was deployed to Iraq at 17. He died on March 6, 1996 after getting into difficulties during a diving exercise aboard HMS Richmond.
The family moved to Acorn Drive a decade later but say trouble with management started within a year. "We'd only been here 12 months when we had problems with the management."
Residents have been told to remove plant pots, doormats and garden chairs from communal areas, and another bench-dedicated to the late husband of resident Cheryl Talbot-is also said to be at risk. "It's just so dictatorial. I've had social workers on the phone and police when Home Group got really vindictive."
Cllr Nagi Nagella warned: "Removing these is difficult enough, but the removal of memorial benches is deeply insensitive and wrong. Good policy must protect safety without stripping away dignity, community, and the simple freedoms that matter most."
Home Group says benches that meet safety requirements are not at risk, but its suggestion it might "take ownership" of them has angered residents. A spokesperson said: "We don't want to take down memorial benches. Of course we don't." "Those benches aren't in danger - so long as our inspectors can assess them and they tick the boxes that we have to tick." "We have to make sure we follow fire safety recommendations thoroughly if they are to stay, and it may be we need to take ownership of maintaining them while they sit in the communal area."
Ted O'Neill, Local Democracy Reporter
