Redlands Liberal Democrats

Floods, crime and planning enforcement...

The run up to Christmas is supposed to be a time of reflection, as everyone winds down for the year.
Well, that's not quite how it works in Redlands!

Much of Saturday was spent in Whitley, at a meeting with victims of the floods in July. So many people are still homeless, or living in a few rooms in flood-damaged properties: their stories were ever so moving. There are a number of residents on the Hexham estate who were affected and remain very worried. I spoke at the meeting and called on the Council and Thames Water to do everything they could to help residents back into their homes, to do what they can now to repair as many drains as they could, and then to make the strategic investments needed to deal with the likely effects of climate change.

Last Thursday and Friday evenings were spent with the Neighbourhood Action Group, where we were joined by Chief Constable Thornton of Thames Valley Police. Her presence reflected both the success of the NAG, as well as the importance the Police are giving to neighbourhood policing. It really is delivering improvements in crime and antisocial behaviour in our area, though there is still a lot to do and Daisy and I remain worried that our best officers get poached by the Met.

On Wednesday, at Planning Applications Committee, the Council revealed its planning enforcement performance has dropped sharply, in terms of time taken to investigate cases, and the number of enforcement notices served. This was an issue I highlighted back in September, and I am sorry to say that the numbers were worse than expected. I will be meeting with Reading's head of planning to see what can be done to address this issue, especially for those areas with a high demand for enforcement activity (such as the streets off Erleigh Rd).

Redlands Primary School pupils continue to shine!

I wrote to Katherine Forster the Head Teacher of Redlands Primary School today to congratulate her and her team for helping Redlands children to achieve great results in the last year in English, Maths and Science. The popular School in Lydford Road continues to be among the top ten best primary schools in Reading. Well done too to all at Newtown Primary School, which is one of the 100 most improved primary schools in England.

Empty Homes - National Week of Action 3-7 December

The Empty Homes Agency, a great campaigning charity which campaigns to reduce the number of empty homes in the UK launched its National Week of Action this week. I used this as an opportunity to highlight the issue in Reading and ask the question why, two months after Reading Borough Council approved the Lib Dem motion calling for action on empty homes why has nothing happened?

In Redlands, almost 5 years on, the prominent house on Christchurch Road is still empty. Across Reading, hundreds of potential homes lie empty while the Council sits on its hands. Cllr Gareth Epps highlighted one such property recently in Katesgrove which could house 30 people.

I will continue embarassing Reading Borough Council about their failure to resource an empty homes strategy until they do something about it!