This week's in my view comes from.... Liberal Democrats councillor Thomas Parker, ward member for Wildridings.

If we want to get things done in Bracknell Forest, we have to come together.

I’ve been there before, stuck in an endless cycle when trying to report a local issue in good faith. The Council says it’s Silva Homes, Silva Homes says it is the Council. I demanded better than that when I was a resident, so as an elected Councillor I’ve made it my mission to bring people together instead of idly arguing about things.

One of the reasons for this complexity is the transfer of land and responsibilities between the Council and Silva being messy to say the least. For instance, parking space provision and enforcement in estates like Wildridings involve multiple agencies and responsibilities are muddy. For ordinary folks, this creates an incredibly complex and difficult to understand muddle whereby nothing gets done.

I’ve been working tirelessly since the day I was elected for a new approach. The day after the election I arranged two meetings: one with Silva, one with the local PSCO. Some Councillors will silo themselves into just Bracknell Forest Council, sticking within the confines of the organisation. However, as community leaders, we have a responsibility to bring people together and that includes organisations outside of the council such as Silva and the Police.

And thus far, it has yielded great success. I have managed to get Silva, the Council and the Police to work together in often-forgotten communities like Ferriby Court in our Town Centre. I’ve ensured that residents are being kept up to date by Silva when they are doing works in our estate in Wildridings. It has been exhausting, it is taking a massive amount of effort and there’s still so much more work to do… but it’s a start!

For things to get done in our community, we need to put our differences, the past and politics aside. To uplift our estates and communities in Bracknell Forest we all have to do more. Report issues to Council through FixMyStreet, report issues to Silva when it’s their responsibility and most importantly report issues to the police online or via 101 before writing about it on Facebook.

I know that together, as a community, we can make a difference in people’s lives by getting things done about those day-to-day nuisances. I’m going to keep fighting for a better, more unified and easier to understand way for residents to feed back about their neighbourhood, and I urge you to join me in that effort!