Caversham ward Cllr Andrew Cumpsty says:
At the recent meeting of the Full Council, Labour Councillor Paul Gittings, the Labour spokesman for Culture and Sport described the "Save Christchurch Meadows Campaign" as 'an absolutely absurd campaign'.
Given that the campaign is trying to protect a much loved park, our environment and Caversham's heritage, I found his remarks to be rude and unnecessary, given that over a thousand Caversham folk had signed this petition.
Because of this lack of judgement by the Labour lead Councillor, I politely asked that he reconsidered his comments and apologise to these Caversham residents, who have sincerely held views on Christchurch Meadows.
To date, most disappointingly, no such apology has been received. So through your newspaper, I would ask that even late in the day he shows the same amount of respect to these Caversham residents, as they did when they came to present their case to the Council.
I do worry that Labour just ignores the wishes and concerns of residents in Caversham. They did it when they ignored the wishes of Caversham and went ahead with their plans to close our Arthur Clarke care home, now Cllr Gittings once again seems to be doing exactly the same with Christchurch Meadows.
I do hope that he reflects, sees sense and apologises for his uneccessary outburst.