'This is about more than poverty and unemployment. It is about being cut off from what the rest of us regard as normal life.'
The words of Tony Blair, spoken in 1997.
Last month I wrote about our campaign to improve the quality of life for residents living on Hexham Road estate. This is a key priority for us locally, alongside all other other campaigns.
Residents I speak to on the estate have been turning to us after being let down for years by Labour and we take our duty to speak up for residents and to demand a better deal for them very seriously.
I was reminded of our campaign earlier in the week when I spoke at a Council meeting in support of the Council's Thriving Neighbourhoods programme. This programme aims to provide intensive support to some of the worst off neighbourhoods in Reading where health, housing and employment are signifcantly worse than other parts of the town or as the report says:
"a small geographic area [where] prosperous communities sit alongside more deprived neighbourhoods, where poor health lack of skills, community safety, and poverty are key features.'
Redlands, and more generally, Reading, is very polarised with real extremes of wealth.
As I've said before key features like lack of access to good school places, poor health and a shortage of good quality, affordable housing are what makes life chances for many people living in South Reading worse than other parts of the town. This is wrong.
The gap between well off and deprived areas of the town has widened under a Labour government and a Labour Council.This should be a source of shame to local Labour politicians.
No-one should be complacent about the challenges we face and the work that is needed to ensure that everyone in the town reaches their full potential, no matter which postcode they are born into.
Nick Clegg, Leader of the Lib Dems made it clear that improving equality of opportunity was a key priority for the Lib Dems when he launched the Independent Commission on Social Mobility which reported earlier this year.
The Thriving Neighbourhoods plan which has been developed with so-called "Growth Point" funding aims to offer more support to these areas through community development - working with local people to give them the skills they need to enjoy a better quality of life, alongside improving community facilities.
To quote my colleague Cllr Gareth Epps who spoke that evening many people in these areas are "sick of governments, councils (and I'd add politicians!) doing things to them or for them when it should be with them."
Community development workers partly employed by the Council and other local agencies will perform a key role by making sure communities and local people are at the heart of the Thriving Neighbourhood programme.
I was therefore shocked today when I heard today that funding for some of these officers has not been secured beyond this year.
I have written to the Chief Executive to seek assurances that funding will be put in place to make sure that the TN programme is sustainable. The worst thing that could happen would be for a new programme to be set up only for the Council to walk away from some of Reading's most in-need residents a few months down the line.
As part of the programme local steering groups will be set up to involve local people and councillors in ensuring that the local benefits are delivered. I made the point in the Council meeting that these groups must pass the 'what's in it for me?' test. Local people who give up their time to help improve their local area should also benefit through gaining skills and opportunities to improve their own lives.
As Liberal Democrats we would like to see opportunities for local people to have control over their lives expanded. We would like to see area committees set up across the Borough to devolve decision-making down to neighbourhood level, away from the Town Hall.
Clearly, it is not soley the responsibility of the Council to invest in our neighbourhoods. Partners must also be pulled in - our communities are their responsibility too. In particular Police and health services who have failed parts of Reading simply by refusing to put enough police officers on the beat and health facilities where they are most needed over a period of years, must now provide support.
Back to the ward, I am currently in discussions with officers and residents on Hexham Road about what to do about a piece of disused open land. Local residents approached me with their concerns about RBC proposals to develop an allotment on the site for use by young people. The idea is a good one in principle but I am keen that whatever plans are brought forward are supported by local people of all ages - not just youngsters.
There is cycnicism on the Estate about Council initiatives, partly due to people feeling (entirely understandably) that their area has been neglected over a long period of time, alongside frustration and a high turnover of Council employees keeping an eye on issues on the estate.
As a result quite a lot residents would just prefer some things to stay as they are. As one resident told me 'we don't have a lot of problems here, it's pretty quiet and we like it that way'. Who is to say this view point has any less legitimacy than the view of local teenagers? With everything there needs to be a balance to make sure everyone benefits.
Given that the Council recently consulted people on the estate, for pretty much the first time ever, about what they would like to see improved in their area, the last thing that should happen is for the views of local residents to be ignored because they do not fit in favour of a 'Council knows best' outlook!
As I reminded officers today, my role as a councillor is primarily to be the representative of the people to the Council, not the other way around.
In many parts of Reading the Council needs to win back the trust of local people and prove that it is on their side, not against them.
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