Form the Leader: Looking forward and back

I’ve often lamented in these columns that politics is too short-term.  Politicians, local as well as national, all too often prioritize the quick wins, which might deliver votes at the next election, rather than plan for the needs of future generations.

I hope that accusation cannot reasonably be levelled at the current administration at Wokingham Borough Council. In the more than four years that we have led the council, we have sought to focus on prevention, early intervention, and invest-to-save initiatives, which will bring better outcomes for residents in the future as well as secure longer-term savings in public money.  A good example amongst many is the significant increase on our watch in the number of places for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, both in specialist units in mainstream schools and in special schools.  The expansion of places in the borough not only makes life easier for the children and families affected; it also saves money on our home-to-school transport bill by reducing the number of long journeys beyond our boundaries.

Our commitment to the future was underlined in a rather different way recently. The Covid Memorial Wood, occupying part of the Rooks Nest Farm site next to California Country Park, was opened to the public late last month.

The idea of a Covid Memorial Wood was championed by the current MP for Wokingham, Clive Jones, when he was leader of the council in 2022-23. It’s taken time to bring his dream to fruition but it was good to see him at the opening ceremony: he has shown a keen interest in the project from its inception.

The Covid Memorial Wood, stocked with trees supplied by the Woodland Trust and planted largely by volunteers and local charitable bodies, will add noticeably to the canopy cover in the area, increasing carbon capture and therefore playing its own small part in reducing global warming. This year’s summer has reminded us – if a reminder is needed – of some of the consequences of global warming: drought, water shortages, increased food costs, and wildfires. It’s in all of our interests to try to minimize these impacts, and tree planting, especially at scale, can play its part.

The Memorial Wood has another function, of course. If it looks forward in its climate emergency aspects, it looks back in its evocation of the Covid years.  Besides being a wonderful location for a countryside walk, it offers a place of quiet contemplation for all those who lost a loved one in the pandemic.  That dark period in our recent past will no doubt be etched in our minds for many years to come – probably to the end of our lives. It was perhaps as dramatic a change in established ways of doing things as the Second World War was to the generation that lived through it. Just as they spoke of pre- and post-war, as though the six-year conflict was a great cesura, dividing two different worlds, we speak of pre- and post-Covid.

I found the opening event profoundly moving, reminding me of the struggles and anxieties of the Covid years, and the loss of so many people, but also offering hope for the future. The young trees we saw at the opening ceremony will take many years to come to maturity. They are our gift to generations to come.