Late afternoon I received a call from a constituent about a building which appears to have been built over the bank holiday weekend (!) as far as I'm aware without planning permission. The building has been erected on a small strip of land between Montague St and Fatherson Road. I have written to the Planning Enforcement department to ask them to invesigate it's legality urgently. This type of development is not acceptable in a Conservation area and if the builders have not got the required permissions they must take it down.
On my way back I took photos of some very unsightly graffiti in and around Eldon Terrace (including Town Place and Montague St). Glenn and I reported it to RBC weeks ago but nothing has been done. I am concerned that this is because of the Labour-run Council's policy not to remove graffiti for free when a tag is larger than one square metre. The location of this graffiti in a Conservation Area and the fact is highly visible from the public highway means that the impact it has on the neighbourhood is doubly bad, in my view. I have written to officers to see what can be done.
UPDATE: Reading Borough Council officers have confirmed that the aforementioned property does NOT have planning permission. Officers visited the site today and I will post an update on the situation here as soon as I can.
UPDATE: The Evening Post takes up the story.
Comments