Redlands Liberal Democrats

Student politics

The Post picks up the fact that Reading East Tory MP Rob Wilson stood unsucessfully for Redlands as an SDP candidate twice in 1988 and 1989, owing to some remakrs he made in the House of Commons last week.

Those election results in full (thanks to the Post):

"For the record, Mr Wilson came in third with 393 votes in 1988 in the borough elections. Labour won the seat with 1,460 votes, the Conservatives had 1,005 and the Social and Liberal Democrat Alliance candidate Jeremy Lazenby came fourth with 367 votes."

I wonder if Mr Wilson's failure in Redlands as a student was the springboard for his political career in another party.

Speeding on Northumberland Avenue and the perils of partnership working

Good news earlier this week when the Council's Traffic Management Applications Committee agreed to the Lib Dem call for greater scrutiny of the Thames Valley Safer Roads Partnership (TVSRP) - a body comprising the Police and local Councils which controls speed cameras.

Why does this matter I hear you cry?  Below follows I hope an explanation - apologies in advance for the number of acronyms in this post!

What feels like a long time ago I discovered that the speed camera at the top of Northumberland Avenue had a) no film in b) no one in either the Police or the Council could tell me when asked what it was doing or why it was there! No wonder residents were fed up with the accidents taking on their doorstep when neither the Police or the Council would accept responsibility for the speed camera. What a mess.

After months of what seemed to me buck passing, I did some research into speed cameras and found the website of the TVSRP.  I then asked Cllr Ricky Duveen (our transport spokesman) to ask a few pertinent questions at the next TMAP meeting (last monday) about accountability etc of this obscure body.

I wanted to know primarily how speed cameras in Reading were being monitored and how the Council was scrutinising the performance of TVSRP against road safety targets.

Thanks to Ricky's probing TMAP has now agreed that there will be regular reports from the Partnership, especially now that member councils apparently have greater powers to direct what the partnership actually does. A senior officer subsequently thanked me for raising the issue as she had found the whole thing very frustrating.

It's vital that the Council does get on top of road safety on Northumberland Avenue.  After all, there have been 35 accidents between Whitley Wood Lane and Christchurch Gardens in the last three years alone. Thankfully a road safety scheme for Northumberland Avenue is on the Council's programme of works for next year.

My personal view is that the speed limit should be 20mph along its length, given the residential nature of the road and the numbers of schools, shops etc. BRAKE has launched a national petition on this issue to get the government to ring-fence funding for these initiatve which you can sign here

Station Hill

Yesterday, I discussed the proposed development at Station Hill, with the developer and architechts. There is an exhibition near the station, and they have had a steady stream of visitors, who have come along to give their views. It's potentially the most important development in Reading that there has been in the last ten years or so, covering as it does the area between the station and Friar Street (currently the site of the abandoned British Rail building and the old bus station, among others)

I would encourage everyone to let the developers know what they think: there is a real opportunity to reshape the most important part of the town, but they have to get it right. If you can't make it to the physical exhibition, there is a virtual one here.

Labour the Landlord

Kirsten, Gareth and I seem to spend a lot of our time chasing estate repairs behalf of local esidents. The sad fact is that under Labour's management most of Reading's housing estates are crumbling and in the case of Hexham Road in urgent need of regeneration.

What message does it send local residents when areas managed by the Council are left by Labour to get into this state?

This picture shows Glenn by another gate on its last legs on Hexham Estate (this one is on Newcastle Road) and sums up the problems we face.

I'm concerned about the way that repairs are logged and dealt with by the Council. The call centre is at the centre of the Council's process and I can't help but wonder if the problems lie there.

A recent example to give you an idea what I'm talking about...

Residents reported a fence on Hadrians Walk East (belonging to the Council) a number of times for repair between last April and December. I got on the case and reported the fence myself several times over.

Still nothing happened, so as a last resort I got in touch with The Reading Chronicle, who ran the story in this week's paper:

'Neighbours on the Hexham Road Estate finally got some good news when council officals promised to repair broken fencing - nine months after it was first reported.'

This article contains a fantastic quote from the Council's press office:

'The Council received a call on May 25 about a gate at the entrance to a block of flats in Hadrians Walk East. It was fixed the same day - a new hinge and latch was fitted. Since then, the council has not received a report from residents about a broken fence in Hadrians Walk East. We are aware of the damage and the broken fence is being repaired today.'

Sometimes I think the Council must think residents (and councillors come to that) were born yesterday.

In cynical moments I wonder if I should advise residents to ring the press office not the repairs hotline!

Lighting on Cintra Park and on Lancaster Close gets the green light

My successful efforts to improve lighting on Lancaster Close and Cintra Park seem to have found there way into an RBC press release. This must mean the projects are about to become a reality!

As an opposition councillor it is not usually the Council's policy or practise to promote my activities.  Oh well, all publicity is good publicity if more people get to hear about it!

I am Safer Communities spokesperson for the Lib Dem Group on RBC. I sit on the East and South Reading Safer Reading Forums and the Safer Reading Campaign which looks at crime issues across town.

The Safer Reading budget is useful - it is one of the few mechanisms that allows residents and ward councillors to get funding for small-scale crime-reduction projects.

I have been quite successful in getting over the years. In 2006 I focussed on getting alley gates fitted on properties affected by flytipping and burglaries in and around Addington Road. These alleyways are common between terraces in Reading. Ownership can be hard to establish, and I remember it took some time to get 'agreement' from all parties to install a gate. There are still a few alleyways that need gating, but we know where they are!

Last year I put in a bid for Safer Reading funding to improve lighting on the footpath linking Newcastle Road with Cintra Park sometime ago after local residents complained of feeling unsafe. Additional lighting will be installed in the Park and on the footpath.

Residents on Lancaster Close have suffered a large number of burglaries, as well as regular attacks of flytipping and graffiti along the alley way which links Christchurch Road with Lancaster Close. A new lighting column has been approved by the alley way.

It took a while for funding to come on stream, but it looks like these works are now about to start - good news all round!

Elections 2008: RUSU leads the way again

On the subject of elections and voting, I came across Reading University Students' Union's excellent RUSU Elections 2008 site which includes videos made by current RUSU Sabs explaining the process and the roles on offer, to potential candidates as well as voters.

I think web-based movements encouraging voter turnout and participation orginated in the US. MoveOn is one of the most famous. Students for Barack Obama is a more recent example. These sites show how far behind the three main British political parties are on this kind of thing!

Anyway, RUSU elections take place in Week 7 and I'm really looking forward to finding out more about the candidates and meeting the new RUSU Executive. It's absolutely vital we work together on issues for the benefit of students in Reading, and I've found building good links with RUSU to be a really worthwhile experience over the past couple of years. The campaign for a polling station on campus was a good recent example, as was our ongoing campaign to improve street lighting around the University area.

I will be launching a campaign to get more students to register to vote in conjunction with RUSU, in a  few days, and I'd love to see the Council trialling a website like this perhaps with video diaries to reach out to younger voters and promote participation in local elections. The In fact I think I will send a link to the Head of Electoral Administration!

As the youngest female Councillor on the Council this issue is really close to my heart and I see it as my responsiblity to help encourage more young people to take part in elections.

The Council has got it right with it's support for the Reading Youth Cabinet iwhich is a great idea and recently proved how effective it can be when it raised concerns about Reading Buses ID card scheme.

Young people I have spoken to feel deeply about lots of issues in Reading including the environment, crime and public transport. One of the first emails I received as a councillor was from a GCSE student wanting me to get the Council to do more to get Reading Schools to 'go green' .

If more of them voted there could be a mini-revolution in thinking at RBC (and I think plenty of more progressive policies as a result!)

Alexandra Road Parking: Update

I was pleased to get the chance talk to both my constituent Mr Cox who was quoted in yesterday's Post article, and RBC's Head of Transport yesterday evening about parking problems on Alexandra Road.

There is consensus that the Council needs to move quickly to address residents' concerns.

I will be taking the Head of Transport to visit the site in the next few weeks to see what action can be taken by the Council to reduce dangerous parking on junctions around Alexandra Road.

She shares my fears about road safety which is being repeatedly compromised by the thoughtlessness of some individuals. I am hopeful improvements can be made.

In the longer term, we will continue to look at ways to reduce pressure on local roads from visitor and commuter parking.

Alexandra Road Parking problems

There is an article in today's Reading Evening Post about parking problems on Alexandra Road. This issue predates my time in Redlands by some years and various people of all political persuasions have tried to sort it out without success.

We are very aware of the frustrations felt by many residents and we are keen to see the situation sorted out or if not at the very least improved. Like much of central Reading, parking spaces on Alexandra Road are at a premium. However, the pressure on on-street parking is even more on this road where there is a popular mosque, a  large hospital and several schools in easy reach - all of which attract large numbers of visitors (in cars at various times.

We have been working to tackle this complicated issue behind the scenes for about a year and half. Sensing that the problem was getting worse rather than better better and the need for speedier action to resolve the issue, I held a meeting with RBC's Head of Transport about it last November.

As a result of this meeting, RBC's highways team is now looking closely at what can be done to ensure that residents on Alexandra Road can park more easily, and vitally, what can be done to improve road safety for all road users (including pedestrians!)at busy times.

The first step needs to be a review of current parking provision, followed by a thorough consultation with local residents looking at possible options. I hesitate to say solutions, because parking problems are not things that can be readily solved.

Anyway, I'll post more details here soon as soon as I have an update.

Focus on voting and elections in Redlands

A year ago today, the Times featured an article about electoral fraud that references the case of postal voting fraud in Redlands in 2005 . 

I only came across it by Googling "electoral fraud and redlands" while researching voting in Reading for a Council meeting this week. How sad that Redlands earned notoriety in the national media because of this incident: as this article outlines, there is still a lot that needs to be done to tighten up election law and prevent abuses of the electoral system.

Talking to voters during the last last two elections, I have found some residual fears among some (particularly older voters) about the security of postal voting in elections following the widely publicised problems in 2005. The government, working with all political parties, needs to do more to restore trust in the political process.

I sit on the Council's Corporate, Community and External Affairs Panel and we will be discussing electoral registration and this year's local elections on Wednesday evening (hence my research).

I am concerned about the lower than average registration rates in the University area - specifically the polling district around St Luke's Church which is currently 69.95% (compared with the average 80.68% across Reading Borough)

We will be launching our annual campaign to encourage more students to register to vote shortly.

On the plus side, the number of 'attainers' (rising voters between 16-17) added to the register increased by 1,631 which is very good news.

And finally, following a successful campaign by Kirsten and I, an additional polling station has been added in Redlands to make it easier for residents living to vote.

A number of elderly people we talked living around Morgan Road and beyond complained of difficulty getting to the polling station on Hexham Road (which was their 'nearest' polling station). Others did not feel safe traversing Cintra Park to get to vote.

Anyway, following extensive consultation on the subject with residents, Kirsten and I made written representations to the Council calling for an additional polling station and it was agreed one was needed. Result!

The new polling station will be located at the Museum of Rural Life on Redlands Road and is being trialled at this year's local elections in May.

Whatever happened to...Labour's Empty Homes Policy?

You may remember that I've been banging on for a while about the absence of any clear strategy  or resource from the Labour Council to deal with the huge number of empty homes in Reading  The figures is disputed but currently runs into hundreds of private houses across the borough which could become much needed homes

This issue makes me sick when, as I've said before, one of the main housing issues in Redlands is the tragedy of young families living in overcrowded accomodation. The house on the corner of Christchurch Road and Kendrick Road characterises the problem: a large house, in the middle of a conservation area and at the heart of a local community, empty for at least 5 years and left to rot, while the owner is allowed to forget about his responsibilities to the local area, and concentrate on more profitable developments elsewhere in the town.

With the support of the brilliant David Ireland, Chief Executive of the Empty Homes Agency ,I have been campaigning on this issue in Focus and in the local press since 2006.

When the Lib Dems put the issue on the agenda at a Council meeting in October last year the  Leader of the Council bragged that Labour's empty homes policy had previously 'won an award from the EHA''. I was intrigued by this and went on a hunt for this accolade.

I recently found the plaque tucked away, gathering dust on a wall outside the Council Chamber. When I asked to see the actual policy I was told by officers first of all that no such policy existed and later that it would have to be dug out from the Council's archives!

Things were looking more hopeful  last year when the LIb Dem motion to Council calling for action on empty homes in Reading was passed. A senior Labour councillor promised at a meeting that a 'revised' empty homes policy would be part of the Cabinet agenda early in the New Year. I have to say I was doubtful as the Labour Council is forever producing strategies which are not backed up by any kind of resources i.e. they often end up being a lot of hot air.

Well. It's  mid January now, and I have been getting a bit frustrated not having heard anything from the Council about the promised e**** h****  p***** so  earlier this week I contacted the most senior officer in housing and asked her what was going on.She told me that the Cabinet meeting where the new policy was due to be tabled had been cancelled!

I've asked for an urgent meeting to try and move things on a bit. It's disappointing but sadly not surprising that once again it was left to the Lib Dems to raise it.

You can be sure that even if Labour politicians are not prepared to do anything about the hundreds of homes lying empty in Reading, the Lib Dems will continue to campaign on this issue until something is done about it.