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!
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