Redlands Liberal Democrats: 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.