With talk of a new cinema for Windsor, a new hotel, more parking and retailers to die for, it was a shame that Cllr Rayner chose not to follow up on my request for her to ask the developers for a consultation event in Dedworth. Cllr Rayner’s justification was that they are a private enterprise and so we have limited ability to get them to do more than they have chosen to do.
What do you think? Would you like to attend a consultation in Dedworth?
When the developer invited me in a few weeks ago, as a local Councillor, to present their new vision, I suggested they should not just have the two consultations in town but come out to Dedworth, where half their shoppers live and get some feedback.
They said they were only planning on the two in the old Fenwicks building and had purposefully held content back to drive attendance at those events. I suggested that if they had shared the information up front then residents would be better positioned to ask questions at the consultation events.
As I understand it, from last night’s Windsor Town Forum around 300 people attended over the two days, which is great but it’s not 30,000… in fact, it’s less than 1% of Windsor residents.
Last year, over 2,000 local residents signed a petition calling for the creation of a Windsor Town Council and the Conservative administration said that didn’t represent Windsor and turned it down. Circa 7% of the population voted and were denied.
From what I have seen so far this looks like a positive refurbishment of a tired shopping centre but do Windsor residents feel consulted?
I’d suggest that we should be looking to consult as widely as possible in the local area if the developer and RBWM want the town to thrive. If we don’t then residents will assume it is a done deal. Those driving it simply looking to get a tick in the box and to move on…
What do you think? Would you like to attend a consultation in Dedworth?
Thank you.
Jon
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