I called in to see a constituent this afternoon who lives on Bede Walk, off Northumberland Avenue. Noticing the new Post-16 education centre buildings at Reading Girls School taking shape, I couldn't fail to notice the poor state of the fence/hedge that divides the School from Bede Walk.
This issue has been a problem as long as I can remember, and residents have been complaining about the fence for many years.
The picture above was taken of myself and my constituent Kay Nash back in March 2007, around the time I first formally raised the issue with the School:
"I am one of the RBC ward Councillors for Redlands ward which has a boundary with Reading Girls School. Residents have been experiencing problems with the fencing and trees which run alongside the school on Bede Walk. I believe some work was done previous to prune the trees and remove the rubbish - this needs to be done again and regularly. Rubbish is regularly building up between the fence and the trees and I know that residents are often having to clear the area themselves in the absence of regular clearing by either yourselves or the Council.
I contacted the Council about this issue and was told that the trees and the fence area are your School's responsibility. I am aware the Council may have some responsibilities here too and I would be happy to act as a go-between to make sure this problem is sorted out.
I look forward to hearing from you about what action you propose to take with regard to maintaining these trees and ensuring they are pruned regularly... I have copied in our Community Wardens, Peter Kennedy and Carol Shepherd, who have been helping residents on this issue and who have spent a lot of time voluntarily clearing rubbish from the fence area.I am aware that the School's management team was proactive and took positive action to deal with this problem in 2004, and I am hopeful with your support this can happen again."
Fast-forward to last March, where I raised the matter again, to no avail. So, today I have written to the School once more:
"I am writing to you to express my disappointment that repairs to the fence dividing the School and Bede Walk have not taken place, despite requests from local residents and myself some months ago.
I was in the area speaking to local residents today and this issue continues to be a source of frustration for them. The fence is damaged in places and makes the area look rundown - rubbish continues to be dumped there is adding to the problem.
You may have seen that flooding and lighting issues on Bede Walk have now been addressed by the Council and recently the problem of mini-motos using the Walk has been reduced by the installation of anti-cycle barriers at both ends.
This leaves the issue of the fence the only substantive environmental issue on Bede Walk yet to be resolved.
We understand the issue of cost has prevented the School's management taking action to improve the fencing thus far, however, given the considerable amount currently be spent on new building at the school local residents I've spoken to are understandably frustrated that this small but important concern has not been prioritised, some months after it was first raised with you.
I would be grateful if you could look into what repairs to the fence the School could undertake, to help improve the appearance of the area and to improve relations with the School's neighbours in Bede Walk."
We know that there is a lot of school budgets just now, however, fences, like relations with neighbours do need to be maintained.
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