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Long-debated proposals to create a Windsor Town Council edged forward on Tuesday as a motion to undertake a community governance review into the possibility was approved.
At a full council meeting, Cllr Karen Davies (Lib Dem, Clewer East) put forward the motion, which received praise from several councillors including Cllr Wisdom Da Costa (WWRA, Clewer & Dedworth West).
He stated that the social aspect of a new town council ‘has to be looked at with great pride and opportunity’.
Cllr Davies explained that the views of all Windsor residents would be ‘positively welcomed’ during the review process.
She said residents have ‘long expressed’ their desire for a town council, with 2,200 people previously signing a petition calling for this.
Proposals for a town council were dashed in 2021, when councillors voted against creating one under the previous Conservative administration.
“The opportunity for residents to have a Windsor Town Council has been a commitment of ours for over a decade,” said Cllr Davies.
Cllr Widsom Da Costa said: “For 50 years we’ve been devoid of a council, devoid of the ability to make decisions about our own town.
“For those 50 years and especially in the last 16 years, unfortunately, we’ve seen money go from our town to pay for developments in Maidenhead.
“Decisions made on who and what that money is spent on made by Maidenhead councillors, not by Windsorians. It’s got to stop.”
He added: “The social aspect of a Windsor Town Council has to be looked at with great pride and opportunity. A chance to bring people together, a chance to have a great time together, a chance to deliver awards for other people, people who are doing great stuff.
“So, we must not overlook that fact that this is not just about democracy, this is about bringing people together.”
Ascot and Sunninghill Conservative councillor Julian Sharpe said he was ‘fully supportive’ of the idea and added that parish and town councils put democracy ‘where it should be’ but raised concerns over the rights.
He said: “It gives people a voice in their local communities.
“One thing that I really think we need to be careful about in talking about a new Windsor Town Council, though is what powers it actually has and what jurisdiction it has over the issues locally.
“The parish councils actually have relatively limited rights over what they do, and I think if we start giving a town council wider rights than that, then you will start a call for the parishes to have wider rights as well.
“So, it is going to be very much, I think, a balance of where we draw the line with all of this, but I’m fully supportive of the idea of taking this forward.”
