Tuesday 19th October will show whether the new Condem administration is really willing to support its residents or not.
The meeting will be dominated by the Maiden Erlegh catchment issue. I am going to present the petition to the Council and ask the Condems to support Park's residents. There will be a number of questions from residents about the issue and then Labour Park Councillor will bring a motion to the Council that will bind it to support the campaign with legal action.
This is a vital moment for the campaign. It appears that Cllr Mark Ralph is wobbling in his support and is not willing to spend the money to bring in the lawyers.
Cllr Hartley's motion says:
Motion
This Council wholeheartedly supports the campaign by parents in east Reading to oppose
Wokingham Borough Council’s plans to exclude local children from attending their local secondary
school, Maiden Erlegh.
Maiden Erlegh has been the local school for families in the Whiteknights area of Park ward for (more
than two) decades, ever since Berkshire County Council closed the Alfred Sutton secondary school.
In the past, when Wokingham politicians have suggested that access to Maiden Erlegh should be
restricted to Wokingham based children; Reading Borough Council has made it clear that any such
proposals would be strongly opposed.
Therefore this Council resolves to:
1. Ask the Chief Executive to write on behalf of RBC to make clear our rejection of
Wokingham’s plans and to write to the Reading East MP to seek his support for local
families. Seek Counsel’s advice on the legal case for challenging Wokingham’s proposals.
2. Pursue all avenues to maintain the current education choices that are available to Reading’s
residents.
I urge all Reading residents to lobby Cllr Ralph. his email address is mark.ralph@reading.gov.uk remember if he abandons Park's children. What will he do for other children in Reading.
If you are available on Tuesday, please come to the Council meeting to support the campaign and make your voice heard. We have shown Wokingham how strong people's feelings are and now we have to make sure that Mark Ralph and the Condems understand.
As the Manic Street Preachers once said, "If you tolerate this then your children will be next"
