Redlands Liberal Democrats

Lights! Camera! Action!

Reading Borough Council has launched a review of street lighting and about time too! When I first moved to Reading I was struck by how antiquated the street lighting was. The Council's PR describes it as 'traditional'. Normal for Victorian times maybe but no good for 2007!?

The majority of street lighting in Reading emits a dull orange glow from Low Pressure Sodium (SOX) bulbs which as well as being completely useless at lighting up a street, is not at all energy efficient. Existing street lighting in most of Redlands is almost entirely made up of SOX bulbs which make it hard to distinguish people or objects, so this type of lighting makes it easier for criminal activity to be concealed.

As the Council's Report to Cabinet on Public Street Lighting notes 'no comprehensive renewals programme has been in place for a number of years'

Residents, in particular female students living in the University area, have consistently raised the current poor level of street lighting as a cause for concern with me. The Council, as a rule, has been loathed to tackle the issue due to high capital cost, or to quote one council officer said to me a couple of years ago:

'if we upgraded one lamppost we would need to upgrade every lamppost in the area and we can't afford to to do that so it's not possible

Walking back from lectures or anywhere else in town in the dark is not fun or safe. For this reason I called on the Council today to review street lighting in East Reading and upgrade lighting to make residents feel safer.

We will be campaigning to ensure that lighting in Redlands is upgraded as soon as possible.

Oh, one other thing which is a constant bugbear while we're on the subject is the time it takes RBC or in reality RBC's contractor, SEC, to repair faulty street lights. Residents have told me that they have reported lights not working and it's taken weeks for them to be repaired. We've found the same.

I think it's about time the Council upped it's game on this one, don't you?

Kebab van deferral

As reported in the Post this evening, last night's Licensing Committee decided to defer consideration of the "Peeps" kebab van, which trades on Shinfield Rd, at the bus stop near the junction with Christchurch, Redlands and Elmhurst roads.

Daisy and I have both had worries about this trader, both due to the behaviour of customers late at night, as well as access for wheelchair users to Reading Buses. We've submitted objections accordingly.

Unfortunately the case will not now be considered until January (and the van will trade until this time).

Chris Huhne Visits Reading: Part II

The second part of Chris Huhne's visit to Reading took us to Reading University Students' Union to look at Reading's first reverse recycling machine as part of RUSU's 'Go Green' week. The machine accepts used drinks cans and bottles in exchange for tokens that are redeemable in Union shops on Campus. What a great idea.

Chris was rightly impressed by the students' commitment to encouraging sustainable living. If only Reading Borough Council would follow their lead and introduce these machines in public places like schools and colleges - or even in the Oracle. Recycling may begin at home but I see no reason why it shouldn't be extended into streets and places where people congregate. This happens in London - why not in Reading?

Anyway, green to his fingertips and after fielding lots of interesting questions from Reading University students ranging from Labour's plans to extend the period of detention without charge to 56 days for terror suspects, to cash for peerages, to Chomsky, Chris and his team sped off to Eastleigh...in his Prius, naturally ;-)

Chris Huhne visits Reading: Part I

Chris Huhne, candidate for Leader of the Lib Dems found time in his busy schedule to support our campaign to Save our Post Offices last Friday. He visited the Erleigh Road Post Office and signed our petition Save Our Post Offices - a vital local amenity and one we hope won't be threatened with closure when the announcement is made next week.

Chris stood in Reading East in 1983 and knows the area well. He is a great campaigner and as well as being the man behind the Lib Dems' radical plans to tax pollution not people, otherwise known as green taxation. Chris will  be highlighting the need to do more to tackle climate change at the forthcoming National Climate March on 8 December.

I plan to attend the march after a public meeting on the same day organised by the Council on the issues surrounding the summer floods in Reading: timing of which was completely co-incidental! Some of my constituents living on Bede Walk in Whitley were badly affected and I have been campaigning to get the Council to make changes to the footway so that they are not flooded every time there is heavy rain!

First past the Post?

As we wait anxiously to find out which local post offices in Reading Royal Mail plans to close, we had good news this week that Cllr Gareth Epps, Lib Dem parliamentary candidate had successfully campaigned to extend the consultation period. We think that It is really important that local people have their say and join the campaign to save our post offices. Royal Mail had initially planned to consult people during the Christmas holidays, which would have made it difficult for people to respond. Gareth wrote to officials at Royal Mail and changed their mind, which is great news.

Nationally the Lib Dems are campaigning to save our Post Offices. Locally, Reading Lib Dems will be campaigning vigorously to ensure that local post offices across the town stay open as we think they are a vital amenity for local residents, young and old.

A busy month so far...

I'm sorry not to have posted anything for few weeks, November has proved to be very busy indeed.

On November 7 I met with council officers to discuss the growing problem of empty homes. This has been one of my main campaign issues since getting elected. Earlier in the year we highlighted a number of problem empty properties such as Alexandra House on London Road and a large house  in a prominent position on the corner of Kendrick Road and Christchurch Road. These properties have been empty for some time and as well as as attracting anti-social behaviour, they are also a wasted opportunity to provide local people with new homes. I'm pleased to say that after pressure from the Lib Dems the Council has finally recognised the need to take action in this area, and we hope new policies to come on stream early next year.

Measures to reduce crime in South and East Reading have also been high up my agenda this month. I attended the South Forum Safer Forum where I am pleased to say that my bid for better lighting on Lancaster Close has been agreed Download db_lancaster_close_lighting_streetletter_15_november_2007.doc .

Residents living in this area have suffered repeatedly from burglaries and graffiti and action was needed. I was shocked to discover that RBC has no specific budget for lighting per se and that lighting bids can only be justified if crime figures support them. Far from ideal and definitely something the Lib Dems will continue to campaign on in the future.

The East Reading Safer Forum focused on problems around nuisance drinking on the edge of the town centre. Labour councillors are keen to introduce street drinking bans in problem areas. This is a gesture - I don't think the Police have enough officers to resource this type of thing. Far better to tackle the problem premises with existing powers open to Councils.

Sadly since the government relaxed the licensing laws, some licenses had been approved in previous years without (in my view) adequate consultation with local people who have to live with the effects. The 24 hour license for the Murco Garage is an example of this. Interestingly, Gordon Brown recently signalled a u-turn on this issue: he is to review the impacts of 24 hour drinking and the impact of the reform of licensing legislation in 2005. I am concerned about the cheap availability of alcohol in supermarkets in particular to children. Tesco has got in to trouble over this recently.

Leaf fall

I noticed a lot of leaf fall on streets around the ward this week and swiftly reported this to the Council's streetcare team. I am pleased to report that Redlands Road, Morgan Road, Kendrick Road and Christchurch Road have received special attention as known 'hot spot' areas and will continue to do so throughout the autumn. Please let us know of any streets near you that need clearing.

...Lib Dem controlled Islington recycle leaves that are collected from the Borough's streets. I wonder whether RBC could adopt this policy too?

Park life

We got a piece of very good news yesterday afternoon: officers at Reading Borough Council have sorted out funding for the regeneration of King George V Memorial (Eldon Square) Gardens, a historic park in Redlands.£61,000 has been identified from Section 106 contributions (money paid by developers as part of new housing developments) to upgrade the Gardens.

These Gardens are rare and beautiful - one of the few listed Gardens in the UK and the only Georgian square gardens in Reading. Their dilapidated state was one of the main reasons I got involved in local campaigning two years ago, so they are very close to my heart.

A bit of history...

After months of lobbying and thanks to a very enthusiastic Parks Officer who shared my vision, the Council bowed to pressure and agreed to restore the Gardens. Public consultation was duly carried out and a record 89 residents expressed their views - a real sign that local people were interested and keen for the Gardens to be restored . A clear majority of respondents who took part pledged their support for the most radical option - a re-creation of the original circular walk, with round beds in corners.

The consultation also threw up a number of concerns about anti-social behaviour, poor lighting and vandalism which Kirsten and I will certainly be looking to address in the coming months.

Undoubtedly one of the reasons the Gardens had got so run down was the fact that park keepers are no longer a feature of modern life, and parks are under-funded with some parks getting the VIP treatment and others not.

I was keen at the outset to start a Friends of Eldon Square Gardens group to give local people, and people who love the Gardens a voice in how the Gardens were restored and maintained.My hope is that the Friends of Eldon Square will campaign to stop any further detiroration of the Gardens and allow them to survive another couple of hundred years for our children and grandchildren to enjoy.

In this sprit I wrote to the Marquess of Reading, great grandson of Rufus Isaacs , last Liberal MP for Reading and who's statue dominates the Gardens. I had done a bit of research and was pleased to discover he was alive and well and living in Cirencester.

I asked him if he would be Patron of the group - and he was delighted to accept and pleased to hear that I was continuing the Liberal tradition in Reading!

The regeneration proper is likely to begin in the New Year (care has to be taken to avoid construction during the bird-nesting season) and I will post more about it here as the process unfolds.

Town and Gown?

Hi there,

First of apologies for my lack of posts, I will try harder to do better from now on!

There are number of issues on my agenda at the moment. Unfortunately, the bad behaviour of a small number of Reading University students hit the headlines in Reading this week. Although the episode took place in the town centre, the repercussions are felt across the town, particularly in the University area.

A number of us including Kirsten Bayes,the Redlands and University local neighbourhood police teams  and Reading University Students Union have worked hard forging links and trying to foster better relations between local residents and the student community in Reading. This year's RUSU Executive has been outstanding in the work it has done both in terms of banning initiation ceremonies and in its general attitude and approach to community relations.

There is obviously a limit to what any one group can do but I am disappointed that Reading University itself is not being more proactive - after all, it's reputation is on the line when episodes like this occur.

Once again we read that the University will be 'taking disciplinary action' but what this means is never properly defined or communicated outside of the University's gates. I think the local community has a right to know what the University's disciplinary powers are and that they will use them when necessary. I don't think the local press is the right forum to get this message across- the local community needs to be engaged. Kirsten, Gareth and I have pressed for more transparency from the University: watch this space.

Redlands has one of the highest student populations of any ward in Reading, therefore I am keen to involve students in more community projects and help them enrich our community. I plan to dedicate more of my time to getting this off the ground in future. Reading University Amnesty International Society is doing a fantastic job of raising the profile of human rights abuses across the world. I will be attending their event Moazzam Begg: my life in Guantanamo this Friday. 

On the subject of Reading University, I will be viewing the Whiteknights Development Plan this weekend to get a better idea of the University's vision for its campus. After the fiasco that was the University hotel consultation process (when residents' views were ignored) I am keen for as many local residents as possible have their say - deadline for comments is Wednesday 19 December.