Redlands Liberal Democrats

Bulky waste in University area still a problem

Last night Kirsten and I were knocking on doors on Blenheim Road, launching our petition on the state of the roads in Redlands. We were shocked by  the number of houses of multiple occupation (HMOs) with rubbish and waste furniture dumped in the front gardens.
We are campaigning to get the Council to change it's disastrous policy of charging for bulky waste.

While we welcome the increase in waste collections at the end of term, but at present no one is taking responsibility for tackling regular flytipping that goes on year in year out around Erleigh Road.

Landlords and in some cases their tenants are not paying for large items to be collected and are using local streets as dumping grounds. This is not acceptable.

I will be writing to Council officers and Reading University asking them to visit Blenheim Road and De Beauvoir Road so they can see the problems for themselves and asking them to put greater pressure on landlords to deal with their waste responsibly.

Stairlift success

I blogged in April about my efforts to help an elderly constituent  in my ward get the Council to install a stairlift in her Council property and I was really pleased today when I popped round to find that it has finally be installed (see pic).

I checked back through my emails and found out I first asked Council officer to look into this last July -  a long time to wait. The process residents need to go through for adaptations like this is too slow, as well complicated for many people to understand.

Anyway, I'm very glad I was able to help and it's very gratifying to see how much Mrs Buckley's life has been enhanced by the lift. So much better also that she can stay in her own home, near her friends and not have to move into another property.

Lib Dems reveal hidden tax on Council tenants in Reading

The Evening Post picked up a campaign led by Cllr Gareth Epps and myself into the scandal of a 'hidden tax' on Council house tenants in Reading. As a result of Labour government policy,15% of Council rents in Reading end up going back to government coffers.

Cllr Epps said: “It is absolutely outrageous that Reading council tenants are paying rent, not to go on maintaining Reading’s council housing, but to go into a Treasury black hole. Council tenants will be shocked to discover that 15 per cent of their rent doesn’t come back to Reading at all.

“Yet again the Labour Government is penalising some of Reading’s poorest households.

“This money should be going into making every Reading home a decent home and building much needed new affordable housing. Instead, it is being siphoned off by Gordon Brown for his own purposes. It is literally daylight robbery and I hope Reading politicians will start to stand up to it.

I agree. We will be pressing the Council's CCEA Panel to look into this issue in greater depth later in the year to provide answers for Reading's Council tenants.

In other news, the Post published a report on the Kings Tavern Licence application. Please conctact me if you have any questions or concerns about the licence withdrawal earlier this week.

Northumberland Avenue: speeding still a problem

A constituent has written to me to highlight the issue of speeding on Northumberland Avenue. He reports that cars are racing up and down the road doing speeds of up to 60mph and he fears for the safety of his young daughter and other families. This is of grave concern as this is a highly residential area with a park, a nursery and several schools along its length.

I have been concerned about road safety at this location for quite a while and raised the scandal of the speed camera with no film in it , and road safety in general with RBC back in January. Y

ou may remember Cllr RIcky Duveen and I pressed RBC to do more to hold members of the Thames Valley Safer Roads Partnership to account in relation to cameras etc in the Borough.

Anyway, I have written to RBC officers and asked them for an urgent update on what measures are being considered to tackle speeding on this road and I will post the response here when I have it.

Parking on Hexham Road estate

You may have seen the article in the Post last week about our successful campaign to get  RBC to reduce parking problems for residents living around Hexham Road. The Council's initiative will focus on parking problems that occur around the Community Centre at weekends.

For several months Labour councillors and officers denied there was a shortage of parking for residents. This isn't what my constituents have been telling me - I've had a number of emails and phone calls about the issue. Parking on grass verges and pavements is a symptom of a wider problem with lack of road space in an area which now has more cars than it was built to accomodate.

I am in the process of a setting up a meeting with Council officers from Transport and Housing departments to look at the wider problems of lack of parking for residents where land belongs to RBC i.e. housing estates. It sounds technical but basically it means that some bits of land are not 'public highway' and so normal parking restrictions such as yellow lines (and residents parking) cannot be introduced or enforced by RBC: not great if you are a resident and you want to park vaguely near your home.

Anyway, hopefully we've started the ball rolling and this issue will now get the attention it deserves.

Response from James Freeman on bus proposals

Following my post last week about the proposed changes to the buses that serve Redlands, James Freeman, Chief Executive Officer of Reading Buses has responded to my questions as follows:

"As far as the present service 18 is concerned, there is no plan to delete the service to Erleigh Road/Addington Road currently provided by service 18 – quite the contrary, in fact!

The present 18/19 services are suffering at present from very low use. They are part of the residual network (i.e. not part of the Premier Routes network) and with hourly frequencies and differing termini are at best confusing for customers. In addition, the 19 is duplicated along Craven Road and Addington Road by service 62.

Our scheme for 1st September is designed to make the service more attractive to users by adopting a single route through the area and numbering the service 38. Thus buses traversing the section Erleigh Road – Addington Road – Alexandra Road – Upper Redlands Road will, from 1st September, will operate every half hour during the day, Monday to Saturday. So, please reassure your correspondent that it is not our intention to damage the service from this area to and from Central Reading.

The position with regard to operating journeys later in the day and on Sundays is that we do not believe that there would be enough business, commercially, to justify any extension of the times that this service is provided.

Under the 1985 Transport Act, it is open to the local transport authority, in this case Reading Borough Council, to consider whether it is socially desirable and economically value-for-money to provide such additional journeys as might be required. The question of additional journeys is therefore one for Reading Borough Council to consider.

This same process is applicable to the present service 19 journeys between Central Reading and Kings Meadow (Tesco). These journeys currently carry not more than 6/7 passengers per journey, which indicates that whereas those people who do used it value the facility, the fares that are collected go nowhere near covering costs of operation. We have indicated that we need to stop operating over this section commercially (i.e. without subsidy) but it is for Reading Borough Council to consider whether it is appropriate to subsidise the operation after 1st September.

Mr Freeman sent me a further email today:

"The changes to 18/19 in the Erleigh Road/Alexandra Road area are actually extremely modest. All we have proposed is to merge the two present routes 18 and 19 which go slightly different ways into one common route which covers almost every stop currently served by both. Only Addington Road loses the 19 and does not gain the 38, but the 62 operates along this road, so there is still an accessible service.

We have proposed this change because the 18/19 does badly for passengers and part of the problem is that it is seen as two separate routes running every hour, whereas it is actually one route running every half-hour! The new number draws attention to the change and allows us to market the service more comprehensively – which we intend to do.

We will do everything we can to let people along the route know what is happening, recognising that many of these people will not have internet access. The printed timetables will be available about a week beforehand."

I am most grateful to Mr Freeman for responding to my questions in detail in relation to the proposed changes to bus services in Redlands.I am very glad that he recognises the need to advertise changes to the various routes to bus users who do not have web access. I think it is very important that student views are considered so I put Mr Freeman in touch with Rhiannon Horsley, RUSU President and I am pleased to say they are meeting shortly to discuss the route changes.

Redlands roads overlooked for resurfacing...again!

A few days ago the Council published it's carriageway resurfacing programme 2008/9 and we were shocked to find that NO streets in Redlands would be resurfaced over the next 12 months. This is the second year running that the Council has overlooked streets in desperate need of repair in the ward.

As part of our regular surveys and walkabouts of the ward we have identified and reported a large number of roads needing urgent repairs to the Council including Donnington Gardens, Blenheim Road, De Beauvoir Road, Hexham Road, Malvern Court and Hatherley Road. The road surface on these roads are pitted and full of potholes: this does damage to bicycle and car tyres. Residents have highlighted these problems to us and we have pressed the Council to act.

I wrote to the Highways department to find out why, once again, these problems are not being dealt with by the Council and got the following reponse:

"Regrettably there is insufficient funds to treat all roads identified. Those locations that are not included in this years major resurfacing programme will therefore role into future programmes. In the meantime reactive maintenance, as required, will continue in the usual manner,"

Continuing in 'the usual manner' will no doubt mean patching up the potholes that continually appear and failing to renew the disintegrating road surfaces. Is this policy offering value for money for Council tax payers in Redlands? Unsurprisingly this sticking-plaster approach was presented as a good news story today by the Labour-run adminstration.   

I have tabled a formal question to Council asking precisely when these roads will be repaired. We have also launched a petition which will allow local residents to register their anger at this decision and help us press for action. Please sign it here. What's the road surface like on streets in your neighbourhood? Please contact me if there are problems and I will make sure the Council hears about them.

Kings Tavern Licence decision

Disappointment tonight as the Kings Tavern licence application was...withdrawn. The licensee had applied to extend the pub's opening hours until 3am on Friday and Saturday nights. This proposal was understandably very unpopular with residents, notably those living around Montague Street and Victoria Street. In total, 23 objections were received including from both the Newtown and Redlands & University Neighbourhood Action Groups. Local residents feared any extension in the licence would lead to increased noise nuisance and anti-social behaviour. I was all set to speak on their behalf at the hearing, but in the end I didn't get the chance.

This is highly frustrating. I'm told the licence was withdrawn due to an issue with the application which was not picked up by officers when it was received by the Council - which is regrettable. We should therefore expect a second, more 'complete' application to come forward from the licencee of the Kings Tavern in the near future. This will most likely mean a second consultation, followed by another hearing.

However, unless residents see a significant reduction in problems with this venue such as late night noise and groups of rowdy customers hanging around and causing a nuisance, the complaints are set to continue and action may need to be instigated to review the licence.

An evening at Reading University

A useful evening spent viewing the University of Reading's Halls redevelopment plans. My Lib Dem Council colleagues and I quizzed architects and planners about various issues including the design, sustainability and affordability of the new halls.

Overall the approach taken by the University seems sensible, but it will obviously be important that students and local residents are listened to. The exhibition will be running on Friday and Saturday so do take a look.

Given the number of private halls springing up all over the place (including the Unite proposal at former UoR property, Mansfield Hall, London Road), it is good to see Reading University maintaining a reasonable level of affordable accomodation on campus. This will also help ensure that pressure on the local private-rented housing stock does not increase. I was interested to see that 'town house' style accomodation will potentially be offered in the new development: student houses off campus continue to be popular and this move clearly reflected student tastes.

The University's plans don't currently include redeveloping Wells Hall (too expensive apparently): we'll need to keep an eye on what happens there. I also enquired about progress on the University's controversial new hotel development and was told we should expect a detailed planning application in the autumn. It seems the economic downturn may have given the hotel partner which is being brought in to run the hotel, cold feet, so no idea yet when that project will get underway.

After the exhibition Cllr Gareth Epps and I met up with Rhiannon Horsley, newly-elected President of Reading University, and Rachel Reid VP Student Rights and Diversity to hear about their campaigns and how we can work together. I must admit I did feel slightly old: after all this is my third RUSU Executive since 2006!

As students make up 50% of the electorate in Redlands ward it's really important for us to have a good relationship with RUSU officers. I never got involved in student union politics at University and I'm constantly impressed by the self-confidence and campaigning skills of RUSU Exec members. 

Anyway, it's great to see more women leading RUSU, although I will miss Sally Pearman, outgoing President. Rhiannon and Rachel were full of energy and ideas and I was particularly pleased to hear student housing and recycling was at the top of their agenda.

Earlier this year RUSU ran a very successful 'Go Green' week and I was pleased to hear a big, better version is planned for later in the year.As I was walking around the campus I noticed again how much better the University recycling facilities were than in many places around the Borough.I last looked into this issue back in April and we clearly need to again.

We will be working together on a number of issues including pressing RBC to look again at reviving its landlord accreditation scheme and to campaign for kerbside glass recycling, as well as continuing to campaign to get student voices heard on the Council by promoting student participation in elections in Reading.

I'm looking forward to Freshers Fayre already! 

UoR Halls redevelopment consultation

If you live close to the university, you should have received a leaflet informing you about the planned Halls redevelopment consultation. The University of reading will be holding two public exhibitions in the foyer of the new Carrington building (pictured to the right). There you will also be able to discuss the plans with University consultants and there will be feedback forms availible. I am sure this will be of interest to many local residents, and a good chance to air your views.

We wil be watching with interest to see if the provision for student accomidation remains at present numbers or is increased beyond its current level. There will also be a need for this work to be carried out efficiently - so that there will be no short term reduction of the number of rooms availible, as the old buildings are pulled down. Price will also be a hot topic, there would be no point in building new Halls if the students can't afford to live in them - so seek private accomidation arround the UoR.

The dates for your diaries:
Friday 11 July 2008 from 10am to 8pm
Saturday 12 July 2008 from 10am to 2pm