PLANS TO make Reading a city have moved a step closer the town pushes ahead with its bid.
Since the start of the year, residents and councillors in Reading have been preparing a bid to become a city as part of the Queen’s platinum jubilee celebrations next year.
Yesterday, councillors decided to move the bid forward, which is based on 11 reasons why Reading should become a city.
Reading Borough Council leader, Cllr Jason Brock said that Reading deserves to be a city because it is “a great place to live, work, and play”.
He said that Reading is a place which “celebrates its history but is not incumbered by it” and has a “bright vision for the future”.
Cllr John Ennis, Labour councillor for Southcote said that even if the town fails in its bid, “we’ll keep on trying, and we’ll be a city to proud of”.
He added: “We need to build it up and make it better. We underestimate ourselves too much.”
The bid has been supported by the Conservative and Green Party.
Cllr Jeanette Skeats, leader of the Conservative group, congratulated everyone who has worked on the city status bid already, and said it has been supported by Alok Sharma, the Conservative MP for Reading West, and Theresa May, the Conservative MP for Maidenhead.
Cllr Rob White, leader of the Green group, praised the town, and said: “Win or lose, we will remain a great place to live.”
But Liberal Democrat councillors questioned the need for the city bid.
Cllr Meri O’Connell, Liberal Democrat councillor for Tilehurst, said she was confused by the bid.
“I don’t understand why we need city status,” she said.
Cllr O’Connell said some residents have questioned why the bid is being undertaken.
And Cllr Ricky Duveen, Liberal Democrat councillor for Tilehurst said he was worried about the financial impact of the bid.
“I’m lukewarm on city status, if I’m being honest,” he said.
Cllr Brock said the cost of the bid has been met entirely within the council’s current spending.
Councillors were asked to endorse Reading’s bid for city status by Wednesday, December 8.
All Labour, Conservative, and Green Party councillors present voted for the bid to go ahead.
Liberal Democrat councillors, Cllr Duveen and Cllr O’Connell abstained.
Reading has submitted bids to become a city three times before; during the Millennium in 2000, the Gold Jubilee in 2002, and the Diamond Jubilee in 2012.
Cllr Tony Page, the council’s deputy leader, who witnessed the other bids, said this time “the enthusiasm is wider, deeper, and more rooted than we’ve seen in the past”.
