Councillor takes swipe at Facebook group We Love Bracknell amid soar in Covid cases

Bracknell will go into Covid tier 3 from Saturday and the borough has an infection rate of 222 cases per 100,000 people over the past seven days, according to the latest government data.

This is up from a rate of 87.3 when it was announced Bracknell Forest would enter tier 2 at the end of November.

READ MORE: Bracknell Forest will face tougher tier 3 coronavirus restrictions from Saturday

Speaking at the council’s Local Outbreak Engagement Board on Tuesday, councillor Peter Heydon, who has been in trouble previously for his own Facebook posts, said: “Like it or not, one of the communication channels which we struggle with is We Love Bracknell.

“They have got 35,000 people and I suspect a lot of the people who aren’t obeying social distancing are adherents to We Love Bracknell.

“Can we actually get a hold of Mark John and actually get him to start doing something constructive.”

Council leader Paul Bettison said the suggestion “sounds like a good idea”.

Responding, Mr John, who runs the Facebook group, said: “We often find ourselves the easy target of the same three or four councillors, perhaps when they are trying to distract from their own failures to lead which is of course their job.

“Rather than dignify remarks I don’t recognise I would like to spell out exactly what We Love Bracknell has been doing, and remind everyone again that we are still in the midst of a pandemic which is causing very real pain to many of us, and still has the potential to do so much more harm.

“It would be nice if some of our elected leaders could put their point scoring aside and treat the We Love Bracknell community, and our team who do a brilliant job at running it, with the same respect we have shown them in times of trouble.”

READ MORE: The councillor criticised Facebook group We Love Bracknell

Mr John added: “Those on the front line of our local health services need all the support we can give them, and we’re in touch with Healthwatch Bracknell and make a point of sharing NHS and government advice posts across our pages and Instagram frequently.

“Our town centre stewards and shop staff are the ones who have to deal with the front facing public, sometimes receiving abuse, and many of them use the site to ask folk to be more considerate.

“Shop managers themselves use the site to reiterate messages about queues and government measures. We share constant posts from the Thames Valley Police Bracknell page too.

“We have also been in contact with friendly and engaged councillors like Marc Brunel-Walker who have worked hard with all the groups right the way through this, particularly with regards to letting vulnerable and shielding residents know how they can get support.

“These other councillors are of course welcome to get in contact with WLB to see what more we can do together, but I suggest they prioritise looking closer to home.

“Anyone who is familiar with us knows We Love Bracknell is a place for community engagement, helping each other and taking pride in that.

“We are a well-run, sensible site which prioritises decency, sound Covid-19 advice and well-sourced debate over conspiracy theories or provocative tittle tattle.”

Update: After the article was published Cllr Heydon called the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) to discuss his comments and apologised for saying “can we actually get a hold of Mark John and actually get him to start doing something constructive”.

He said it was not his intention to criticise Mr John or the Facebook group, adding: “We Love Bracknell has a huge reach and I think we should be asking them to help us. Social media tends to attract younger people and it is the younger people we want to get the attention of.

“My personal view is we don’t talk to them enough. We should be more positive about We Love Bracknell. Their sentiments are the same as ours. It was a swipe that we can’t get our message out.”