Last Saturday I spent some time speaking to residents on Newcastle Road. Overall people I spoke to were positive but one family raised concerns about the state of steps down to their property which had cracks and needed replacing. This is a problem across Hexham estate and I will be pressing RBC to repair dangerous slabs before someone falls and hurts themselves.
I noticed quite a lot of graffiti around the place and I'm pleased to see this has been cleared since I reported it at the weekend. I hope the Council's policy of removing graffiti from private property, part of the so-called 'big clean-up', continues to be properly resourced. Redlands like many areas of Reading has suffered badly at the hands of taggers and it is something the Council needs to keep on top of.
As I walked round the area I also noticed a lot of litter behind the houses at the top of Newcastle Road. I requested a litter pick of the area and thankfully this was carried out very swiftly.
On my walkabout I also saw quite a lot of bulky waste left outside houses in the area - As I've said for a while I feel strongly that the Council's policy of charging residents for collections of large items has contributed to the number of sofas, mattresses, tvs and even entire kitchens being left or sometimes dumped. The Council's flat rate charges also hits those on low incomes hardest.
In Lib-Dem controlled Liverpool, the Council has brought in a bulky waste collection service called 'Bulky Bob' which collects furniture free of charge to be re-used by low income families. This great service also provides jobs for long-term unemployed people in the local area. I would like to see RBC do something enterprising like this. After all, isn't it a false economy to charge people for collections and then be forced to collect rubbish which has been flytipped as a result?
The Council could also take a lead from Reading Freecycle, a grassroots movement which has led the way in helping people to re-use unwanted goods. I've used it loads of times and can't praise it highly enough.
As I walked round I talked to two residents about the increasing problems of cars parking on grass verges around the estate, particularly on Corbridge Road and Newcastle Road. Following reports by Kirsten and I the Council has installed wooden bollards on verges - this has stopped them getting damaged. However, this is only a temporary solution: parking on Hexham estate needs to be reviewed as the number of cars increases. The No 5 bus service is very good, but a lot of residents now have at least one car per household, sometimes more. I have raised this issue with RBC and I am going to be having a meeting with officers shortly to look at options.
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