Step-gate

It was supposed to be a place where residents could escape the traffic fumes and enjoy a little piece of rest and tranquility for a short while - a green lung at the heart of the urban metropolis.

But after the elegant Georgian square was reclaimed in a recent make-over as an example of low-level community-led regeneration, Eldon Square gardens have now become the focus of a political spat.

REP reports that a Reading East PPC, Labour's Anneliese Dodds, has been approached by a local resident to find out why no wheelchair access was provided at an entrance during the renovations (despite the fact that there are two alternative entrances within 50 yards which do so).

Ms Dodd's has advertised this failing as the fault of a group of local opposition councillors who have recently taken control of the ward after several decades of decline allowed by her own Labour party.

The LibDem councillors in question have hit back arguing that their local election success is the result of local campaigns to improve community facilities.

Cllr Bayes said Labour's candidate was engaging in naive partisan electioneering, “[Ms Dodds] should apologise to the people of Redlands for deliberately misleading them – the decision to install a step in Eldon Square gardens was taken by Labour’s ruling executive last year, not local councillors.”

The Labour PPC then contradicted her earlier statement by admitting the project had been ok'd by her party colleagues, who'd also previously tried to claim credit for it, and to cap off the affair she added a new accusation of party political game-playing.

Councillor Glenn Goodall takes up the case, while Redlands LibDems provides the background of the campaign and the completion of the project.

NB. RBC stated that the step was required to traverse a tree root, but that the decision to go ahead had only been made after referral to the access forum on July 7 last year where this issue should have been raised.

Oranjepan asks:
Is the complainant, Diane Goodlock, a Labour party stooge?