Redlands Liberal Democrats

Crime in Reading in the news again

It's little over a fortnight since the last set of bad headlines about Reading which highlighted high levels of anti-social behaviour we are facing locally, today the town is at the top of another dubious chart: burglary.

getreading has the story, reporting that Reading is third in the country for burglary behind Manchester and Nottingham.

Of course this is not really news, it's sad to say.

Back in April I highlighted the big increase in burglary that the Police were reporting to us.

Although today's article is the result of a national Conservative party press release there is no comment made in the piece by any of the local Conservative representatives about what they would do to tackle burglary problems in Reading, so we are still none the wiser.

At the April meeting of the Safer Reading Campaign as I mentioned in my blog, Superintendent Steve Kirk said:

the only thing he thought could make an impact on reducing crimes such as burglary was increasing the number of Neighbourhood Police officers in some parts of Reading.

This came after Cllr Chowdhary suggested that more CCTV was what was needed to reduce burglary.

I understand why the Tories say things like this: it certainly is the type of thing people want to hear. But tackling crime isn't that simple. 

Many local residents say to me they would like to see more CCTV in their areas as they hope it will put an end to crimes occuring but I point out to them that a) the Police don't have enough officers to monitor all the CCTV we have now b) we would need additional Police officers to go out and arrest the people caught on camera (with our local teams very stretched as it is).

Additional CCTV appears to be the only solution the Tories have in mind despite the fact, as I blogged in Febuary, research by the Police themselves has found CCTV to be ineffective at tackling these sorts of crimes.

Today Steve Kirk was forced to defend Thames Valley Police's record online in response to comments from residents on the getreading site, saying:

"Reading has a number of active burglars and too many burglaries which is why working to reduce this crime has been my top priority for the past five years. Last year we saw a 25% reduction comapared to 2003/4. So far this year we are experiencing a further 13% reduction on last year, we arrest on average 5 burglars a week.Sorry for quoting statistics but that is what the story seems to be about. I will continue to do my utmost to either deter or convict burglars. The police can't do it alone and we have had great assistance from the Council, Probation Service, Neighbourhood Action Groups, Neighbourhood Watch and Crimestoppers. We still have some way to go so if you want to help, contact me at Reading Police Station"

 

I would back up what Supt Kirk says here - it is all about local agencies working together to cut crime and it is not simply the responsibility of the Police to do it. Most burglary is caused by known repeat offenders and they need to be managed by a range of bodies as Supt Kirk outlinies above.

However, it isn't just burglary that requires a more intelligent approach from local agencies. 

As the Lib Dems highlighted only a few weeks ago, thanks to poor local leadership by Labour politicians in Reading local people have lost faith in the ability of the Council and the Police to tackle things like asb and the result is crime and fear of crime is still a problem in parts of Reading.

As a result RBC will be visited by an 'action squad' from the Home Office focussing on helping the Council to reduce anti-social behaviour.

Labour politicians have been invisible on these issues locally on many occasions despite the fact they are supposed to be in charge of measures to reduce crime.

On Reading Borough Council in recent years it has been the Lib Dems who have been campaigning the most actively of the three political parties for a better response to crime problems:-

- We succeeded in getting extra cash and support for Neighbourhood Action Groups (NAGs) as part

of this year's Budget to help NAGs communicate better with local people

- We put pressure on Thames Valley Police to improve the response from its call centres to crime reports from Reading residents

- We called for more effective local strategies to tackle anti-social behaviour

- We have campaigned for more Police on the streets in areas which have historically been neglected such as North Whitley and Katesgrove.

And locally in the ward we have successfully won extra money for local crime reduction measures across Redlands.

Tomorrow I am attending the re-launch of the Council's nuisance team. I'm hoping those in charge of this service will have listened to some the concerns we have raised about the need for the Council to be more joined up in the way it responds to anti-social behaviour reports from the public.

Issues we have faced in the ward such as mini-moto nuisance on Bede Walk could be better handled I think.

That said, the presence of the wardens and nuisance team on Hexham Road - something we campaigned for - is having a very positive impact and is an example of where things are working well in Reading.

UPDATE:

Chief Constable Sara Thornton has responded to yesterday's news report on burglary. Local MP Rob Wilson thinks the situation is "disappointing", saying "change is needed now".

Still no details on what the Tories would do differently if they were in charge which I have to say I find...disasppointing.

What next for the troubled Kings Tavern?

A few weeks ago I blogged about the "re-vamp" of the Kings Tavern on Kings Road following it's enforced closure in June by Reading Borough Council following months of problems.

The pub is due to re-open this Friday.

My colleagues and I shared residents' serious concerns that problems identified previously at the venue could recur.

Our concerns were heightened further when we learned that the operators of this venue had applied for temporary event licences for late night events later this month.

Our fears are based on the fact that we received a very large number of complaints from local residents about this venue relating to noise and serious anti-social behaviour. This prompted us to support residents in their calls for a review of the licence earlier this year.

We are very supportive of all local venues in the ward which add something to the local community and which do there best to abide by licensing rules and regulations about noise etc to ensure that local people are not disturbed.

I have actively supported the campaign to re-open the Jolly Anglers in Newtown: a much-missed community pub.

Operators of pubs which are located in quiet residential parts of town, like the Kings Tavern, have to do more than those running town centre venues to ensure they do not cause a nuisance to neighbours.

There are plenty of local pubs in Reading which manage to do this very successfully.

Today's getreading story confirms what I heard recently that Admiral Taverns has put the Kings Tavern up for sale and have given Ms Sama, the Landlady, 28 days to leave.

Throughout this process Ms Sama seems not to have been in control of events at this venue and her comments today are no different:

'Pub manager Amida Sama, who has spent £10,000 on the refurb, was left shocked when the Post broke the news yesterday, adding: “I had no idea about this, but I will look into it.”

It is not clear what the future holds for the Kings Tavern. We hope that the new owners - whoever they are - will be able to turn this venue into a thriving community pub although I have my doubts if that is possible.

Given where it is located it will be vital that the new owners of this venue don't repeat the mistakes made by Ms Sama and Admiral Taverns.

No room for complacency

Being involved in scrutiny can involve long hours, hard work and is not something that will ever get you rich. It can have a very positive impact on people's lives though. And I'm talking in particular on the lives of people who for whatever reason are not able to speak out on issues that affect them - for example, children.

This was brought to my mind again today with social work and child protection back in the news both locally and nationally.

Locally, because a new independent chair of the Local Children's Safeguarding Board has been appointed. I wish Stephen Barber, the new Chair best of luck with his new role. The role and remit of the Board was reformed after failings were identified with the child protection service in Reading and Wokingham.

The Lib Dems campaigned successfully for the Board to be extended to include opposition members - to improve oversight and accountability.

The Council's press release issued yesterday says Mr Barber has over 30 years experience gained from working in several London Boroughs.

I hope he can draw on this experience to improve safeguarding in Reading and across Berkshire - it is much needed.

Nationally, because the interim report by the government's social work taskforce was published today after pressure was put on the Labour government to do more to tackle widespread failings at local government level in child protection and to prevent tragedies such as the death of Baby Peter in Haringey and in Reading, the death of Trae-Blue Layne.

The report makes interesting reading highlighting many problems that are familiar in Reading such as staff shortages.

Recruiting and retaining high-quality social workers is still a major problem in Reading and RBC is having to rely on a high-number of agency staff. This was obviously not helped when the University of Reading decided to close the School of Health and Social Care - an important local training facility.

Lib Dem MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, Lynne Featherstone has led the campaign for better child protection in this country.

As is well-known, Reading and Wokingham came in for heavy criticism from Inspectors a few months ago.

My colleague Kirsten Bayes has been leading on ensuring that the Labour-controlled Council in Reading puts things right that had gone so badly wrong in child protection.

Recently she raised concerns about the quality of data held by the local authority.

Kirsten takes her corporate parenting responsibilities very seriously. You can find out more about what it means to be a corporate parent here, but it essentially means all councillors have a specific responsibility to ensure children in care are properly safeguarded by local authorities.

This important role also extends to protecting vulnerable adults - an area less press attention tends to be focussed. I have successfully called for all councillors to be trained to spot potential abuse of adults in Reading.

I'm not making a party political point here - issues like child protection must not be party political, they are too important, but the two opposition parties have really risen to the challenge of the need for Members to take a more active role in scrutinising the Council's plans and policies in relation to child protection.

There is clearly still a long way to go if Reading Borough Council wants to meet the high standards set by councillors, inspectors and residents.

From a Lib Dem point of view this is part of a general drive to see more openness and accountability in the way the Council is run and decisions taken.

Scrutiny of this important service had been sadly lacking in the years when the ruling Labour Group held the Chair of the Education & Children Services Scrutiny Panel.

As I've regularly commented on this Blog, scrutiny of services and decisions has improved markedly across the Council since the elections last May and Labour was forced to give up it's chairs of scrutiny panels.

Scrutiny has helped drive improvement in adult social care services where previously performance has been regarded as weak by inspectors - so much so that the Lead Member himself credited scrutiny with helping to improve the service (he told me recently).

Other Panels such as the Culture & Sport Scrutiny Panel have also shown their teeth since the change in the political balance of the Council. For a recent example check out the comments of Cllr Warren Swaine and others on the financial affairs of Academy Sport!

Effective scrutiny is also about ensuring that we are topical issues in the public interest are discussed and debated in public - as has been seen recently with our regular item on housing and the credit crunch and our recent meeting on the performance of First Great Western Trains.

Better scrutiny in Reading has also helped to evaluate council policies to see if they are working and if necessary - as in the case of the private rented housing scrutiny review - made specific recommendations about how council policies should be changed for the benefit of local residents.

Young people and the recession: 'Future Jobs Fund' fails to impress

Today the Labour government launched the 'Future Jobs Fund' : £1bn of public money which is set to 'create' 150,000 jobs.

"We are determined not to lose a generation of talent because of the recession," said work and pensions secretary, Yvette Cooper MP, announcing the scheme.

Sounds great, doesn't it. Except that it isn't - particularly if you are a young person looking for work in Reading.

This cash will be a drop in the ocean when as figures released in June showed there were 900,000 people aged 18-24 out of work, a rate of 16.6%. This is the highest youth unemployment has been for 15 years.

The number of job vacancies has also fallen to 420,000: it's lowest level since 2001.

Go beyond the spin and you find that as with most carrot Labour government dangles in front of councils - like money for play areas - local authorities are expected to compete against each other (and other bodies), sorry, 'bid' for a share of the cash.

Some facts about FJF:

• In the first round 182 bids were received by the government of which 117 have been successful.
• This will apparently create up to 47,000 jobs (well short of the number needed).

• Of these 117 bids, 62 are local authority led. The others are from a mixture of public bodies, third sector organisations, social enterprises and private companie

According to the LGA, jobs that get created should ''last at least six months, should benefit local communities, and be able to get underway quickly. Funding of up to £6,500 per job is available, and all successful local partnerships will have to develop a work and skills plan by April 2010.'

I am aware that Reading Borough Council submitted a bid but it appears that it was unsucessful this time with the closest benificiary being Hampshire County Council. If you are looking for work that you move to Hampshire however - it could take months for this money to filter through and jobs to be created! You can read the full list of which councils were successful here

Dig a little deeper and you find that the South East 'pot' of money to be shared around 6 local authorities is anyway only expected to create a paltry 3,300 jobs.

Simply doling out scraps of cash from the centre to a lucky few of local authorities and being highly prescriptive about how that money should spent seems to me to be wrongheaded.

How does Whitehall know best about how jobs can be created? Local councils are far better place to judge what works in their area.

If, as Lib Dems believe, local councils were given more control over their finances they themselves could decide to create jobs or support small businesses create jobs locally. That's because Lib Dems trust councils and councillors to know what's best in their area, and they are directly accountable to local people. Simple really.

Neither Labour or the Tories have bitten the bullet and reformed local government finance, however, and both spent years centralising and taking powers away from directly-elected councils and councillors.

As Vince Cable observed in an article published back in February 'it is far better to borrow to invest in capital projects creating jobs today and assets for the future rather than to borrow to keep people out of work'.

What Gordon Brown's government is offering to people out of work today is a far cry from Roosevelt's groundbreaking New Deal in the 1930s which was built around the three Rs: Relief, Reform and Recovery.

One bit of good news, following my recent campaign to highlight problems faced by the many young people looking for work in Reading I am told that the date for the next credit crunch summit - with a particular focus on young people affected by the recession will be 13 October.

The meeting will be held at 2-30pm at the Civic Offices.

If you are a young person or you work in an organisation working with young people I would strongly encourage you to attend and make your voice heard on this issue. Or, why not drop me a line with your views on what we can do to help young people find work.

The economic hardship facing many young people in this country is severe and the government response to that should be both compassionate and effective.

What we are seeing from Gordon Brown's government is neither at the moment.

 I'll leave you with some words from Roosevelt's famous 1932 address on the New Deal which I think encapsulates very well the sort of vision we need (and which contrasts with what we are getting from GB):

"My program, of which I can only touch on these points, is based upon this simple moral principle: the welfare and the soundness of a Nation depend first upon what the great mass of the people wish and need; and second, whether or not they are getting it. "

School Transport Appeals

Following my Twitter post yesterday, I've been asked a few times about School Transport Appeals.

Here in Reading, children may have to travel some distance to get to school.

Depending on how far they have to go, and things like the availability of places in nearby schools, the age of the child and the safety of the route (and also whether the school is primary or secondary), transport to school on the buses may be provided free.

The rules are clear but may also be somewhat harsh. Sometimes the child's needs mean they should go to a particular school,  yet the rules as laid down do not allow for free transport. The situation can be very difficult, especially if the child needs to change schools suddenly, for example due to bullying or family circumstances, or if siblings are going to different schools.

If parents or carers are unhappy, they may appeal to the School Transport Appeals panel. It meets half a dozen mornings a year and its job is to add a degree of humanity and common sense to the process.

It's a meeting I really try not to miss: the children concerned can be extremely needy, and the circumstances very complex - the Councillors on the panel from all parties work very hard to come up with solutions that are fair to the families concerned.
Often there is a need to point families towards additional sources of help: the welfare rights unit or children's social care, for example.

My hope would be that the Council can provide more school places that meet the need of each child closer to where the children live, removing the need to take buses altogether.

University defends role in 'state of University area' debate

 A typical scene on Erleigh Road: excess waste dumped on the pavement in the heart of the University area

Following our recent campaign calling for more action to clean up the University area we have (belatedly) received this response from Reading University's Community Relations Manager, Ann Westgarth which explains the University's appraoch to the problem:

"I share your concern about the amount of rubbish in the area and the University, the Students’ Union, Streetcare and local residents have been working together to try to alleviate the problem. There is no doubt that some of it is generated by students leaving their privately rented properties but not all. I have just cross-referenced the list of properties that you’ve provided and 43% of them are not addresses listed on the University’s database as student addresses.

 You are probably aware that one of our approaches has been to provide students with information about dealing with their excess waste via our Moving Out packs which were delivered to 600 student households in June. In addition, the Council provided two additional waste collections on two Saturdays during the busy change-over period. These packs are hand-delivered, not just pushed through letter-boxes and those delivering them knock on doors in order to speak to students directly. Those delivering the packs include volunteer students, myself, local residents and Streetcare officers. Our experience is that many students are grateful for the information: they are often the keenest recyclers. However, this is quite a time-consuming operation. It is therefore additionally frustrating for all of us that there is still unsightly and residual rubbish around in spite of these efforts and the follow-up actions by Streetcare and Refuse Collection services. We have reviewed the effectiveness of our actions and will consider any suggestions as to how things can be improved.

 I do agree with you that much of the responsibility lies with landlords, although, again, they are not all to blame. However, the private-rented market to students is a lucrative one and what we cannot and should not do is meet the cost of clearing away rubbish that is the responsibility of the landlord of the property. When I was out recently ‘inspecting’ the area, I came across a couple of households which students had recently moved in to. When I spoke to them about the mess in their front gardens they told me about the problems they had encountered since moving in. Their bins were so full of the rubbish generated by the landlord ‘preparing’ the property for them, they had no means of disposing their own waste properly. Well-intentioned as they are, they are  renting for the first time and are unsure about how to tackle their landlord. They were as disgusted as anyone else by the mess...Please be assured that from the University’s point of view we will continue to play an active role in tackling these problems throughout the year as well as at the change-over time."

While there is no doubt that the University is taking a more active role these days in relation to issues affecting the local community, as my recent posts have highlighted we feel there is more the University could be doing to work with Reading Borough Council and landlords to reduce waste around the University area of Reading. 

We feel the University should show more corporate social responsibility - to use the jargon - or, put simply it should behave more as a good neighbour to local people.

Only recently has community relations even got on to the University's agenda, with the appointment of a community relations manager in 2006 following sustained pressure from the Lib Dems combined with regular bad press about anti-social behaviour problems.

Before this the University took a very much 'off campus - out of mind' approach which included failing to adaquately consult residents over a number of controversial planning applications on the University campus, including one to build a hotel.

Ms Westgarth, in her response above declares that 'what [the University] cannot and should not do is meet the cost of clearing up rubbish which is the responsibility of the landlord of the property'.

This may be reasonable in principle but I see no reason at all why the University could not offer some support to our already over-stretched Streetcare team either by sponsoring a skip at the end of term, for example, or part-funding a dedicated Environmental Liaison officer for the University area.

This was one of the key recommendations made by the cross-Party scrutiny review into private rented housing in Reading which was subsequently endorsed in full by Labour-run Reading Borough Council's ruling Executive.

Adopting such an approach would have the added benefit of being a relatively straightforward way of the University enhancing it's own local reputation with residents.

I would have thought some positive local press would be much sought after by the University following a series of unpopular decisions which were taken by the University recently including closing the Schools of Continuing Education and Health and Social Care.

Expecting (as the University apparently seems to) local residents, Council officers, and students to "volunteer" to be part of teams helping to clean up the University area may be cost-effective for the University but does send out the right message, as far as we're concerned, about sharing the burden of responsibility of keeping the University-area neighbourhood clean and green.

Judging by the state of some streets around the University this year and the feedback we have received lately this approach does not seem to me to be enough to ensure that local streets are kept tidy and free of rubbish.

And, the burden in terms of cost falls on to the Council and the local Council Tax Payer. In fact the burden on taxpayers is double because not only are they paying for rubbish to be taken away by the Council but they are forced to live in streets which are full of rubbish. Not ideal.

On a positive note, we are pleased that Ms Westgarth has publicly aknowledged that there is still room for improvement in relation to the University's approach to reducing waste at the end of terms in particular.

One obvious "quick win" for next year would be to ensure that extra sack collections coincide with when students actually leave Reading for the end of term.

UPDATE:

My constituent, Rebecca, who recently wrote to me and others calling for action on this issue has since responded to Ms Westgarth:

"...I am sure that you appreciate that it is frustrating for the Council Tax Payer residents to put up with living in an area that is slowly turning into a 'Student Ghetto' by the increase of HMO's in the area, who in turn ultimately pay the price, I just don't want to have to complain at this level next year and if the University can come up with a support Strategy for the Students who live off Campus and work with also supporting the Council to deliver a strategy,  I am sure that this would be greatly appreciated by the people who live permanently in the area and understand that it will not tackle the privately, non student, tenants/residents who also do not clear up after themselves.  Daisy Benson - Lib Dem Councillor has supported myself and other residents in escalating our complaints directly to the Council and MP Rob Wilson has been in contact as well and advised me that this should be prevented from happening again.

I have to admit that before getting a dog 3 months ago - never really took much notice of the rubbish as it is easy to turn a blind eye when you are not personally affected, but do hope that the University and the Council can endeavour to prevent this problem re-occurring."

A level playing field?

I had family over to visit at the weekend and because the weather was nice and one of my younger visitors was keen to run around we decided to visit Kings Meadow.

We had a lovely picnic by the river admiring the boats and afterwards wandered over the children's play area - the first time I had ever been there, I'm ashamed to say, and it was a pleasant surprise.

I have to say I've visitied a few play areas in Reading over the last few years and this was easily one of the nicest I've seen with a great range of activities to keep children of all ages happily amused. T

he only thing my visitors commented on as a negative about the afternoon was the cost of the bus fares in Reading: £4.20 for two adults and one child to go from Caversham Bridge to the Station. A cab might have been cheaper!

My visitors (from London) were particularly surprised that children under 6 were liable for a £1.20 fare: in London children under 16 travel free.

Anyway, I mentioned our experience to one of my constituents, a South Reading mum and she responded:

"Kings Meadow is great! Better than the play areas in Cintra and Longbarn Lane!"

This is sadly the case and got me thinking. In my experience children's play areas in North Whitley are nowhere near as good as those we found on Kings Meadow and this is reflected in what local people tell me.

The play area on Hexham Road is very small and the one on Cintra Park could be a lot better given the number of children living in the area. Lack of facilities for young people living in and around Hexham Road was one of the big issues which came out of the public meeting that was held recently.

Not all our open space is being put to best use in South Reading: there is the ongoing saga of the derilict bowling green on Cintra Park which has been left unused for years. I am trying to find out what is being done about this.

Longbarn Lane Recreation Ground off Northumberland Avenue is in even more dire need for a makeover.

In the past it has attracted anti-social behaviour including mini-motos and grafftii which has put off local people from using the space.

The Council announced in May that Longbarn Lane Rec would be one of a handful of play areas in Reading receiving an overhaul this year via the government's £235 million Playbuilder scheme. It is also set to benefit from work being done by Groundworks.

This may sound like a lot of money - it is, but it is not as good as it sounds.

Having looked into the scheme I found that when this pot of money is divided up between 152 'top tier' authorities it works out that each council will in fact only receive around £1million pounds capital and £45,000 revenue funding.  

Local authorities are not given much discretion by the Labour government to decide where or how to spend the money. The cash does also not include support for future maintenance of our play areas in Reading.

This, when we know from recent experience at Eldon Square Gardens that the Parks budget is one of the smallest and most pressured in the Council.

In Reading, this works out at £1.1million pounds to spend on 22 play areas over the next three years.

Longbarn Lane is one of 8 play areas in Reading to be 'improved' in 2009-10.

Some local authorities who apply for the cash to be a 'Pathfinder' playbuilder authority. It doesn't appear that Reading has been one of the lucky few.

So what of Cintra Park and Hexham Road? Well, given that they are not on the list of sites to be improved by RBC over the next two years it looks as though in the absence of other funding becoming available residents will be forced to wait for cash from nearby development to pay for any real improvements to play facilities.

The same goes for spaces like 'The Tank' on Whitley Street - long-forgotten by the Labour-run Council.

This is not a fair system: the quality of children's play areas should not be dependent on the whim of government or the arrival of new housing developments, particularly in parts of the town where scope for more development is limited due to geography.

In Redlands, we have seen in the last few years the loss of school playing fields on Addington Road for development which resulted in the creation of so-called 'new public open space'...the size of a postage stamp and much-lauded by the then Labour councillors for the area.

Furthermore, with the construction industry currently in recession the likliehood of any new developments coming on stream in central and South Reading t(o pay for more public facilities in the town) look remote.

I have long thought that the Labour-run Council's dependence on revenue from new developments in the Town Centre was potentially unsustainable and what we are seeing already is a big reduction in the amount of money coming into the Council's coffers from developers.

This will have a far-reaching effect on the Council's ability to finance capital projects large and small.

It's worth mentioning at this stage that the play area in Kings Meadow was the direct result of a £120k injection of cash via a flatted development which was given planning permission nearby.

The Council's 'Open Spaces Strategy' published in 2007 was based on a large scale public consultation on people's attitudes to parks in Reading. Findings included:

"In Reading the overwhelming majority of people of all ages go to enjoy the outdoors, and many stay several hours, especially in the summer, suggesting that public open space plays an important role in residents’ recreational activities.

A significant proportion of users do not visit the open space nearest to home as their first choice, citing poor maintenance and a lack of either facilities or features of interest as reasons for travelling further.

Size and variety matter: things to see and do are important factors in choosing which open space to visit. In particular, a combination of natural spaces and recreational activities create favoured open spaces.

Satisfaction with one’s nearest open space is 40%, while the approval of the most frequently used park is 83%. A large number took the opportunity to express their appreciation for the space, offer praise for its management and declare their opposition to any plans for development or change.

The main issues are protection from development, access (for some), quality of both cleanliness (dog fouling, graffiti and litter) and maintenance, and inadequate facilities like toilets and furniture. Most park users claim to feel safe in the park in daylight hours, although there are concerns about anti-social behaviour.

Irrespective of whether or not people use parks, there is unanimity on the importance of open space generally and trees specifically to improving the appearance of the town and to making Reading a nicer place in which to live. Where open space is deficient, respondents believe that better street planting, better off-road routes to parks, and pedestrianisation of streets and other civic spaces, is the best way in which to redress the deficiency."

On the subject of accessibility of open space, the Strategy observed:

• Some areas are not served by any freely accessible recreational public open space
• Many households are further than 5 minutes’ walk from a children’s playground
• Unbridged severance lines - major roads, railways or rivers - reduce further residents’ access to open spaces, especially for people of limited mobility or pushing buggies

Officers concluded (in 2007) that the main issues for Reading in terms of open space were as follows:

• Access: the distribution of POS leaves some areas underprovided:
• In central Reading, POS is, by and large, where residents are not
• In north Reading, large areas are without access to children’s play facilities                                         
• Areas immediately to the west, north-west, south and east of the town centre are amongst the most poorly supplied in the Borough; the problem is exacerbated by very dense housing
• In the south, there is no higher-tier park offering a greater variety of facilities
• Severance lines reduce further residents’ access to open space
• Quality: some of the existing parks and open spaces are of poor quality
• Green links: these are fragmented, so that some POS is not linked off-road to homes, and wildlife corridors are incomplete

Clearly there is a lot of work to be done to improve access to quality public open space in Reading. Given the role green spaces play in our urban areas It is vital that this area does not become a casualty of Gordon Brown's credit crunch. 

UPDATE:

Officers have responded to my enquiries about the Playbuilder project in Reading saying:

"Sadly we were unsuccessful in our second attempt to become a Pathfinder, Oxfordshire ultimately took the last one for the South East region. We were very close with our application though.

The overall funding that we have received for the three year programme is £1.1 million, with an additonal £45k for revenue. This is split over the three years, with £282K already spent within the first year. The total amount of parks to benefit will be 22 and we have already completed the first six. This year will see the creation of another eight sites and then the last year of funding running until April 2011."
 

Summer events for children in East Reading

I thought people might be interested to see this.

Download Microsoft Word - EastReading_Summer_2009

There is quite a bit happening over the school holidays, everything from archery clubs to making iron age jewelry to parent pampering sessions (rather needed I suspect).

I was especially pleased to see the things going on the Museum of English Rural Life, which is a unique resource, and based here in Redlands.

If you would like more information, please contact the organisers or any one of us.

Real action for the University area vs spin

 
Yesterday evening after a day's work and then a meeting in which I  chaired HHCC Scrutiny Management Panel (to plan our September agenda), I popped down to the ward to meet up with my fantastic constituent Rebecca on Erleigh Road.

Rebecca has spent the last couple of weeks chasing Reading Borough Council and Reading University to do more to sort out rubbish problems around the University area. She sent a number of coruscating emails to officers which had the effect of escalating this issue even further up the agenda.

Rebecca has very strong views about the subject of rubbish around Redlands - as do I.

I particularly enjoy campaigning with local residents and working with them to get results on local issues. This is what the councillor's role should be about - making speeches in the Council chamber - blogging etc are a relatively small part of what councillors do, quite rightly.

That said, not everyone takes campaigning for action as seriously as we do (on which subject, more later).

The Lib Dem team in Redlands (pictured) have been campaigning long and hard to get the issue of waste management around the University area on to the agenda after years of little or no action by Labour councillors for our area.

In view of this last night I was joined by my colleagues Glenn, Kirsten, Gareth all of whom have been campaigning tirelessly to get the Council and the University to work together more closely for the benefit of residents (including students).

This was one of the key issues I tackled via our private rented housing scrutiny review earlier this year.

This included a number of specific recommendations directed at Reading Borough Council and local universities to  help reduce the environmental impact on neighbourhoods of private rented housing.

These recommendations were accepted in full by the Labour administration of the Council.

Tackling the proliferation of 'to let' signs was one issue we highlighted for action which has been taken up by the planning department.

Locally, we have campaigned successfully for the first ever bottle banks to be installed in the ward, for example, and recently got the banks emptied more frequently in response to pressure from residents.

The Lib Dem team also got the Labour-run Council to change it's policy on bulky waste charging tighten up measures on environmental enforcement to try to reduce fly-tipping - a major issue around the University area.

The meeting last night follows my walk around the ward earlier this month with my ward colleague Glenn Goodall in which we identified lots of problems with end of term waste on streets around Erleigh Road.

Following our visit we made a list of all the problem properties - around 53 in the area and asked officers to see what could be done.

And, as s I blogged earlier this week as a result of our campaign Council officers has taken action to deal with some of the problems and problem landlords.

There are currently 19 houses where management of waste continues to be a particular problem and officers are working to identify the landlords of these properties as we speak.

Things are better than last year thanks to the introduction of additional black bin collections at the end of the Summer University term: something we successfully campaigned for from RBC.

However, the Council needs to ensure the collections take place at the right time i.e when students are leaving. The collections were a bit early this year. We have fed this back to officers and hopefully next year will be better.

I will also be meeting University officials soon to discuss ways in which the University can play a bigger role in keeping Redlands clean and green - and - getting the University more involved in planning future housing need in Reading, to include improving the condition of off-campus student housing.

Rebecca and I have been in regular contact with council officers via email about this issue over the past few weeks trying to find a better way.

Rebecca mentioned to me in passing that she walked her dog around Erleigh Road but that there were no dog poo bins nearby. I was pleased to be able to sort this out for her (see picture).

We need more people like Rebecca: residents who are prepared to take the Council and other bodies to task when they think that local services fall short of what they should be. After all, It's not just up to local politicians to hold councils etc to account.

We are lucky enough in Redlands to have a number of constituents who are prepared, like us, to stand up and be counted, and to campaign for cleaner, safer neighbourhoods.

In January I wrote about my constituent, Graham, who was campaigning for pavements clear of wheelie bins. We joined forces with Graham and where able to get the Council to take action.

It's great to be on first name terms with most of the residents who are like this in Redlands and to get regular emails and calls which help to keep us in touch. 

So to all the constituents who raise issues with the Council and write to us: you know who you are. Keep up the good work!

From campaigning and getting real action on the issues that matter to local people to...spin: something far less inspiring, but sadly a rather common feature in Reading politics.

I noticed a few days ago Richard Mckenzie, former Labour councillor, and Peter Kayes, former Labour councillor for Redlands ward complaining in the local press about the state of the University area.

I've tried but I'm afraid I can't remember Mr Mckenzie saying or doing anything about these issues when he was a councillor in a position to do something about it.

Dig a little deeper and there are rumours Mr McKenzie is planning to stand for election to Reading Borough Council next year in...you guessed it, Park ward (the area featured in the getreading article, and a ward with a lot of student housing, waste issues etc).

It's also a little surprising that Mr Kayes is also calling for action at this moment in time but was somehow unable deliver lasting improvements for residents Redlands on these issues during his time as a councillor despite being a member of the Party running Reading Borough Council.

Sadly this activity is not confined to one political Party in Reading.

I hear on the grapevine that Rob Wilson the rarely seen Conservative MP for our area is due to make a flying visit to the University area later this week for "a photocall".

I hope Mr Wilson's flying visit leads to some tangible improvements in the lives of local residents living around the University area although I have to say I am a little doubtful that it will.

On a positive note it's good to see politicans from other parties lining up to join the Lib Dem campaign to make Redlands cleaner and greener.

As a team, my colleagues and I have grown used to setting the agenda locally, but cross-party support for our campaigns is always welcome - particularly if it means we can get things done for our constituents more quickly. Our campaigns for better housing in Reading are a prime example of this.

However, a word of caution to local politicians visiting Redlands in search of bandwagons to jump on ahead of elections: local residents have become accustomed to understanding the difference between the real action all year round they get from the local Lib Dem team, and the spin that is trotted out by the other parties.

Pester power!

Following my post at the weekend about the state of some of the streets around the University area I am pleased to report some action has been taken by the Council, although clearly there are questions about how this problem can be better anticipated and handled next year.

RBC has apparently contacted two landlords and 3 Letting agents "telling them to clear the rubbish up. They have done so."

There is a lot of work still to be done to improve: I received a further email from a constituent today deeply frustrated by the situation:

"I can confirm that rubbish has still not been collected - when will this be resolved - it is now at least over 2 weeks since most students have left.  As a Council Tax Payer - this continuous issue has to be resolved as it should not be expected that we should constantly live in an area where there is no respect for the residents and have to look at the eye sores of certain premises being allowed to leave the properties in these states.  I cannot believe that I am the only one to complain about these issues...The Landlord surely must have some civic responsibility in these cases and ensure that their tenants clear up properly and ensure that the environment and health and safety of others is considered.

On the specific issue of making landlords take greater responsibility for reducing waste at properties they rent out, since I raised the issue at the weekend an officer has since written to me to explain what is being done:

"We have agreed to identify repeat offenders and for them to be targeted for follow up by the HMO Team.  As discussed...we are also in the process of producing the next edition of ‘Landlord Focus’ which will be sent out to all landlords on our mailing list.  This will identify and provide advice to landlords on their responsibilities"

Although it is very good that officers are responding quickly and positively to my requests for action I would prefer if a) I didn't have to keep raising the same issues b) residents got the same level of service.

The constituent who emailed me today sent an email to RBC via the website on Monday and is still waiting for a response. This may seem small but this is after in some cases rubbish has sat in front gardens for weeks already.

This is connected with issues around the call centre (which I visited a couple of months ago) and Council attitudes to customer care more generally. The 'back office' does need to become more efficient in some parts of the Council, to ensure residents are getting the best possible service, there is no doubt.

It is worth it though. Particularly when I get emails like the one I got earlier today:

"Daisy - you are a star. Many thanks for this - it just seems that you are the only one who actually does anything!! - I will keep pestering though"

UPDATE:

One of my regular correspondents has replied to offer moral support to my constituent above:

"I have read your recent emails and you are most certainly not alone in these issues! Several of us who also live in the Redlands Ward have made several complaints for quite a time now, and we have also unfortunately experienced the amount of time, Reading Council requires to take action concerning residents complaints! Please keep up the good work"

Amen to that!